I 


historical 


M          1 

r-- 

lift*. 

Spanish 

I 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


THE   EMPEROR  CHARLES  V. 


Historical  Wjixes 


The  Romance  of  Reality 


BY 

CHARLES  MORRIS 

AUTHOR  OF  ''half-hours  WITH  THE  BEST  AMERICAN 
AUTHORS,"  ''tales  FROM  THE  DRAMATISTS,"  "  KING 
ARTHUR  AND  THE  KNIGHTS  OF  THE  ROUND-TABLE,"  ETC. 


SPANISH 


DENVER: 

TANDY,  WHEELER  &  COMPANY. 
1902. 


Copyright,  1898, 

BY 

J.  B.  LippiNcoTT  Company. 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

SPAIN. 

PAGE 

The  Emperor  Charles  Y (Frontispiece). 

Toledo,  with  the  Alcazar 42 

Baronial  Castle  in  Old  Castile 67 

Valencia  del  Cid 90 

King  Charles's  Well,  Alhambra 127 

Reception  of  Columbus  by  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella    162 

Hall  of  Ambassadors,  Alcazar  of  Seville   .   .    .  158 
gonsalvo  de  cordova  finding  the  corpse  of  the 

Duke  of  Nemours 180 

Francis  I.  refusing  the  Demands  of  Charles  V.  188 

Charles  V.  approaching  Yuste 205 

The  Royal  Palace,  Madrid 219 

The  City  of  Saragossa 302 


THE   GOOD  KING   WAMBA. 

Long  had  the  Goths  been  lords  of  Spain.  Chief 
after  chief  had  they  chosen,  king  after  king  had 
they  served;  and,  though  it  was  young  in  time, 
Gothic  Spain  was  growing  old  in  years.  It  reached 
its  golden  age  in  the  time  of  "  Good  King  Wamba," 
a  king  of  fancy  as  much  as  of  fact,  under  whom 
Spain  became  a  land  of  Arcady,  everybody  was 
happy,  all  things  prospered,  and  the  tide  of  evil 
events  for  a  space  ceased  to  flow. 

In  those  days,  when  a  king  died  and  left  no  son, 
the  Goths  elected  a  new  one,  seeking  their  best  and 
worthiest,  and  holding  the  election  in  the  place 
where  the  old  king  had  passed  away.  It  was  in  the 
little  village  of  Gerticos,  some  eight  miles  from  the 
city  of  Yalladolid,  that  King  Eecesuinto  had  sought 
health  and  found  death.  Hither  came  the  electors, 
— the  great  nobles,  the  bishops,  and  the  generals, — 
and  here  they  debated  who  should  be  king,  finally 
setthng  on  a  venerable  Goth  named  Wamba,  the  one 
man  of  note  in  all  the  kingdom  who  throughout  his 
life  had  declined  to  accept  rank  and  station. 

The  story  goes  that  their  choice  was  aided  by 
miracle.  In  those  days  miracles  were  "  as  plentiful 
as  blackberries" ;  but  the  essence  of  many  of  them 
seems  to  have  been  what  we  call  common  sense  or 
political  shrewdness.     St.  Leo  told  them  to  seek  a 

7 


8  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

husbandman  named  Wamba,  whose  lands  lay  some- 
where in  the  west.  The  worthy  saint  said  he  had 
received  this  order  from  Heaven, — for  which  we  may 
take  his  saintly  word  if  we  choose.  However  that 
be,  scouts  were  sent  through  the  land  in  search  of 
Wamba,  whom  they  found  at  length  in  his  fields, 
driving  his  plough  through  the  soil  and  asking  for  no 
higher  lot.  He  was  like  Cincinnatus,  the  famous 
Eoman,  who  was  called  from  the  plough  to  the 
sceptre. 

"  Leave  your  plough  in  the  furrow,"  they  said  to 
him;  "nobler  work  awaits  you.  You  have  been 
elected  king  of  Spain." 

"There  is  no  nobler  work,"  answered  Wamba. 
"  Seek  elsewhere  your  monarch.  I  prefer  to  rule 
over  my  fields." 

The  astonished  heralds  knew  not  what  to  make 
of  this.  To  them  the  man  who  would  not  be  king 
must  be  a  saint — or  an  idiot.  They  reasoned,  begged, 
implored,  until  Wamba,  anxious  to  get  rid  of  them, 
said, — 

"  I  will  accept  the  crown  when  the  dry  rod  in  my 
hand  grows  green  again, — and  not  till  then." 

The  good  old  husbandman  fancied  that  he  had 
fairly  settled  the  question,  but  miracle  defeated  his 
purpose.  To  his  utter  surprise  and  their  deep  as- 
tonishment the  dry  stick  which  he  thrust  into  the 
ground  at  once  became  a  green  plant,  fresh  leaves 
breaking  out  on  its  upper  end.  What  was  the  old 
man  fond  of  his  plough  to  do  in  such  a  case  ?  He  had 
appealed  to  Heaven,  and  here  was  Heaven's  reply. 
He  went  with  the  heralds  to  the  electoral  congress, 


THE  GOOD  KING  WAMBA.  9 

but  there,  in  spite  of  the  green  branch,  he  again  re- 
fused to  be  king.  He  knew  what  it  meant  to  try 
and  govern  men  like  those  around  him,  and  preferred 
not  to  undertake  the  task.  But  one  of  the  chiefs 
sprang  up,  drew  his  sword,  and  advanced  to  the  old 
man. 

"If  you  are  still  obstinate  in  refusing  the  position 
we  offer  you,"  he  sternly  said,  "  you  shall  lose  your 
head  as  well  as  your  crown." 

His  fierce  eyes  and  brandished  sword  gave  weight 
to  his  words,  and  Wamba,  concluding  that  he  would 
rather  be  a  king  than  a  corpse,  accepted  the  trust. 
He  was  then  escorted  by  the  council  and  the  army 
to  Toledo,  feeling  more  like  a  captive  than  a  mon- 
arch. There  he  was  anointed  and  crowned,  and, 
from  being  lord  of  his  fields,  the  wise  old  husband- 
man became  king  of  Spain. 

Such  a  king  as  Wamba  proved  to  be  the  Goths 
had  never  known.  Age  had  brought  him  wisdom, 
but  it  had  not  robbed  him  of  energy.  He  knew 
what  he  had  to  expect  and  showed  himself  master 
of  the  situation.  Eevolts  broke  out,  conspiracies 
threatened  the  throne,  but  one  after  another  he  put 
them  down.  Yet  he  was  as  merciful  as  he  was 
prompt.  His  enemies  were  set  free  and  bidden  to 
behave  themselves  better  in  the  future.  One  am- 
bitious noble  named  Paul,  who  thought  it  would  be 
an  easy  thing  to  take  the  throne  from  an  old  man 
who  had  shown  so  plainly  that  he  did  not  want 
it,  rose  in  rebellion.  He  soon  learned  his  mistake. 
Wamba  met  him  in  battle,  routed  his  army,  and  took 
him  prisoner.     Paul  expected  nothing  less  than  to 


10  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

have  his  head  stricken  off,  but  Wamba  simply  ordered 
that  it  should  be  shaved. 

To  shave  the  crown  of  the  head  in  those  days  was 
no  trifling  matter.  It  formed  what  is  known  as 
the  tonsure,  and  was  the  mark  of  the  priesthood. 
A  man  condemned  to  the  tonsure  could  not  serve  as 
king  or  chieftain,  but  must  spend  the  remainder  of 
his  days  in  seclusion  as  a  monk.  So  Paul  was  dis- 
posed of  without  losing  his  life. 

Wamba,  however,  did  not  spend  all  his  time  in 
fighting  with  conspirators.  He  was  so  just  a  king 
that  all  the  historians  praise  him  to  the  stars, — 
though  none  of  them  tell  us  what  just  deeds  he  did. 
He  was  one  of  those  famous  monarchs  around  whom 
legend  loves  to  grow,  as  the  green  leaves  grew  around 
his  dry  rod,  and  who  become  kings  of  fancy  in  the 
absence  of  facts.  About  all  we  know  is  that  he  was 
"  Good  King  Wamba,"  a  just  and  merciful  man  under 
whom  Spain  reached  its  age  of  gold. 

He  made  a  great  and  beautiful  city  of  Toledo,  his 
capital.  It  had  a  wall,  but  he  gave  it  another, 
stronger  and  loftier.  And  within  the  city  he  built 
a  noble  palace  and  other  splendid  buildings,  all  of 
which  time  has  swept  away.  But  over  the  great 
gate  of  Toledo  the  inscription  still  remains :  Erexit 
fautore  Deo  Rex  indytus  urbem  Wamba.  "To  God 
and  King  Wamba  the  city  owes  its  walls." 

Alas !  the  end  was  what  might  be  expected  of  such 
goodness  in  so  evil  an  age.  A  traitor  arose  among 
those  he  most  favored.  There  was  a  youth  named 
Ervigio,  in  whose  veins  ran  the  blood  of  former 
kings,  and  whom  Wamba  so  loved  and  honored  as 


THE   GOOD  KING  WAMBA.  11 

to  raise  him  to  great  authority  in  the  kingdom. 
Ervigio  was  one  of  those  who  must  be  king  or  slave. 
Ambition  made  him  forget  all  favors,  and  he  deter- 
mined to  cast  his  royal  benefactor  from  the  throne. 
But  he  was  not  base  enough  to  murder  the  good  old 
man  to  whom  he  owed  his  greatness.  It  was  enough 
if  he  could  make  him  incapable  of  reigning, — as 
Wamba  had  done  with  Paul. 

To  accomplish  this  he  gave  the  king  a  sleeping 
potion,  and  while  he  was  under  its  influence  had  him 
tonsured, — that  is,  had  the  crown  of  his  head  shaved. 
He  then  proclaimed  that  this  had  been  done  at  the 
wish  of  the  king,  who  was  weary  of  the  throne.  But 
whether  or  not,  the  law  was  strict.  'No  matter  how 
or  why  it  was  done,  no  man  who  had  received  the 
tonsure  could  ever  again  sit  upon  the  Gothic  throne. 
Fortunately  for  Ervigio,  Wamba  cared  no  more  for 
the  crown  now  than  he  had  done  at  first,  and  when 
he  came  back  to  his  senses  he  made  little  question 
of  the  base  trick  of  his  favorite,  but  cheerfully 
enough  became  a  monk.  The  remaining  seven  years 
of  his  life  he  passed  happily  in  withdrawal  from  a 
world  into  which  he  had  been  forced  against  his  will. 

But  the  people  loved  him,  the  good  old  man,  and 
were  not  willing  to  accept  the  scheming  Ervigio  as 
their  king  unless  he  could  prove  his  right  to  the 
throne.  So,  in  the  year  681,  he  called  together  a 
council  of  lords  and  bishops  at  Toledo,  before  whom 
he  appeared  with  a  great  show  of  humility,  bringing 
testimony  to  prove  that  Wamba  had  become  monk 
at  his  own  wish,  when  in  peril  of  death.  To  this  he 
added  a  document  signed  by  Wamba,  in  which  he 


12  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

abdicated  the  throne,  and  another  in  which  he  rec- 
ommended Ervigio  as  his  successor.  For  eight  days 
the  council  considered  the  question.  The  documents 
might  be  false,  but  Wamba  was  a  monk,  and  Ervigio 
was  in  power ;  so  they  chose  him  as  king.  The  holy 
oil  of  consecration  was  poured  upon  his  unholy  head. 
Thus  it  was  that  Wamba  the  husbandman  first  be- 
came king  and  afterwards  monk.  In  all  his  stations 
— farmer,  king,  and  monk — he  acquitted  himself  well 
and  worthily,  and  his  name  has  come  down  to  us 
from  the  mists  of  time  as  one  of  those  rare  men  of 
whom  we  know  little,  but  all  that  little  good. 


THE  GREEK  KING'S  DAUGHTER. 

History  wears  a  double  face, — one  face  fancy,  the 
other  fact.  The  worst  of  it  is  that  we  cannot  always 
tell  which  face  is  turned  towards  us,  and  we  mistake 
one  for  the  other  far  oftener  than  we  know.  In 
truth,  fancy  works  in  among  the  facts  of  the  most 
sober  history,  while  in  that  primitive  form  of  history 
known  as  legend  or  tradition  fancy  has  much  the 
best  of  it,  though  it  may  often  be  founded  upon  fact. 
In  the  present  tale  we  have  to  do  with  legend  pure 
and  simple,  with  hardly  a  thread  of  fact  to  give  sub- 
stance to  its  web. 

There  was  a  certain  Grecian  king  of  Cadiz  whose 
daughter  was  of  such  peerless  beauty  that  her  hand 
was  sought  in  marriage  by  many  of  the  other  kings 
of  Andalusia.  In  those  days  "that  country  was 
ruled  by  several  kings,  each  having  estates  not  ex- 
tending over  more  than  one  or  two  cities."  What 
to  do  with  the  crowd  of  suitors  the  father  was  puz- 
zled to  decide.  Had  a  single  one  asked  for  his 
daughter's  hand  he  might  have  settled  it  with  a  word, 
but  among  so  many,  equally  brave,  handsome,  and  dis- 
tinguished, answer  was  not  so  easy ;  and  the  worthy 
king  of  Cadiz  was  sorely  troubled  and  perplexed. 

Luckily  for  him,  the  fair  damsel  was  as  wise  as 
she  was  beautiful,  and  took  the  matter  into  her  own 
hands,  making  an  announcement  that  quickly  cut 

13 


14  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

down  the  number  of  her  admirers.  She  said  that 
she  would  have  no  husband  but  one  who  could  prove 
himself  "a  wise  king."  In  our  days,  when  every 
king  and  nearly  every  man  thinks  himself  wise,  such 
a  decision  would  not  have  deterred  suitors,  and  she 
would  have  been  compelled,  in  the  end,  to  choose 
among  the  few  unwise.  But  wisdom,  in  those  times 
of  fable  and  necromancy,  had  a  wider  meaning  than 
we  give  it.  A  wise  king  was  one  who  had  control 
of  the  powers  of  earth  and  air,  who  could  call  the 
genii  to  his  aid  by  incantations,  and  perform  super- 
natural deeds.  Hence  it  was  that  the  suitors  fell 
off  from  the  maiden  like  leaves  from  an  autumn 
bough,  leaving  but  two  who  deemed  themselves  fit- 
ting aspirants  to  her  hand. 

To  test  the  wisdom  of  these  two  she  gave  them 
the  following  tasks:  One  was  bidden  to  construct 
on  the  mainland  an  aqueduct  and  a  water-wheel  to 
bring  water  from  the  mountains  into  Cadiz.  The 
other  was  to  produce  a  talisman  which  should  save 
the  island  of  Cadiz  from  invasion  by  Berbers  or  any 
other  of  the  fierce  tribes  of  Africa,  by  whom  it  was 
frequently  threatened. 

"  The  one  of  you,"  said  the  princess,  "  who  first 
and  best  performs  his  task,  shall  win  my  hand  by 
his  work." 

The  two  suitors  were  warmly  in  love  with  the 
beautiful  maiden,  and  both  ardently  entered  upon 
their  duties.  The  first  to  get  to  work  was  the  aque- 
duct builder,  whose  task  called  for  hard  labor  rather 
than  magical  aid.  Cadiz  stands  on  a  long,  narrow 
peninsula,  opposite  which,  on  the  mainland,  the  king 


THE   GREEK   KING'S  DAUGHTER.  16 

built  a  hydraulic  machine,  to  which  the  water  was 
brought  by  pipes  or  canals  from  springs  in  a  near- 
by mountain.  This  stream  of  cool,  refreshing  water 
poured  upon  a  wheel,  by  which  it  was  driven  into 
an  aqueduct  crossing  the  bay  into  Cadiz. 

Here  comes  the  fact  behind  the  legend.  Such 
an  aqueduct  stood  long  in  evidence,  and  as  late  as 
the  eighteenth  century  traces  of  it  could  be  seen. 
We  have  an  account  of  it  by  the  Arab  writer,  Al 
Makkari.  "  It  consisted,"  he  says,  "  of  a  long  line 
of  arches,  and  the  way  it  was  done  was  this :  when- 
ever they  came  to  high  ground  or  to  a  mountain 
they  cut  a  passage  through  it;  when  the  ground 
was  lower,  they  built  a  bridge  over  arches ;  if  they 
met  with  a  porous  soil,  they  laid  a  bed  of  gravel  for 
the  passage  of  the  water  ;  when  the  building  reached 
the  sea-shore,  the  water  was  made  to  pass  under- 
ground, and  in  this  way  it  reached  Cadiz."  So  it 
was  built,  and  "  wise"  was  the  king  who  built  it, 
even  if  he  did  not  call  upon  the  genii  for  assistance. 

The  other  king  could  not  perform  his  labor  so 
simply.  He  had  a  talisman  to  construct,  so  power- 
ful that  it  would  keep  out  of  Spain  those  fierce  Af- 
rican tribes  whose  boats  swept  the  seas.  What 
talisman  could  he  produce  that  would  be  proof 
against  ships  and  swords  ?  The  king  thought  much 
and  deeply,  and  then  went  diligently  to  work.  On 
the  border  of  the  strait  that  lay  between  Spain  and 
Africa  he  built  a  lofty  marble  column,  a  square, 
white  shaft  based  on  a  solid  foundation.  On  its 
summit  he  erected  a  colossal  statue  of  iron  and  cop- 
per, melted  and  cast  into  the  human  form.     The 


16  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

figure  was  that  of  a  Berber,  like  whom  it  wore  a 
full  and  flowing  beard,  while  a  tuft  of  hair  hung 
over  its  forehead  in  Berber  fashion.  The  dress  was 
that  of  the  African  tribes.  The  extended  right  arm 
of  the  figure  pointed  across  the  strait  towards  the 
opposite  shores.  In  its  hand  were  a  padlock  and 
keys.  Though  it  spoke  not,  it  seemed  to  say,  "No 
one  must  pass  this  way."  It  bore  the  aspect  of  a 
Berber  captive,  chained  to  the  tower's  top,  and 
warning  his  brethren  to  keep  away  from  Spain. 

Eapidly  wrought  the  rival  kings,  each  seeking  to 
finish  his  work  the  first.  In  this  the  aqueduct 
builder  succeeded.  The  water  began  to  flow,  the 
wheel  to  revolve,  and  the  refreshing  liquid  to  pour 
into  the  public  fountains  of  Cadiz.  The  multitude 
were  overjoyed  as  the  glad  torrent  flowed  into  their 
streets,  and  hailed  with  loud  acclamations  the  suc- 
cessful builder. 

The  sound  of  the  people's  shouts  of  joy  reached  the 
ears  of  the  statue  builder  as  he  was  putting  the  last 
touches  to  his  great  work  of  art  and  magic.  Despair 
filled  his  heart.  Despite  his  labors,  his  rival  had  won 
the  prize.  In  bitterness  of  spirit  he  threw  himself 
from  the  top  of  the  column  and  was  dashed  to  pieces 
at  its  foot.  "  By  which  means,"  says  the  chronicle, 
"  the  other  prince,  freed  from  his  rival,  became  the 
master  of  the  lady,  of  the  wheel,  and  of  the  charm." 

The  talisman  was  really  a  watch-tower,  from 
which  the  news  of  an  African  invasion  could  be  sig- 
nalled through  the  land.  In  this  cold  age  we  can 
give  its  builder  credit  for  no  higher  magic  than  that 
of  wisdom  and  vigilance. 


THE  ENCHANTED  PALACE. 


Near  the  city  of  Toledo,  the  capital  of  Spain  when 
that  country  was  a  kingdom  of  the  Goths,  was  a 
great  palace  of  the  olden  time,  or,  as  some  say,  a 
vast  cave,  which  had  been  deepened  and  widened  and 
made  into  many  rooms.  Still  others  say  that  it  was 
a  mighty  tower,  built  by  Hercules.  Whatever  it  was, 
— palace,  tower,  or  cavern, — a  spell  lay  upon  it  from 
far  past  days,  which  none  had  dared  to  break.  There 
was  an  ancient  prophecy  that  Spain  would  in  time 
be  invaded  by  barbarians  from  Africa,  and  to  prevent 
this  a  wise  king,  who  knew  the  arts  of  magic,  had 
placed  a  secret  talisman  in  one  of  the  rooms.  While 
this  remained  undisturbed  the  country  was  safe  from 
invasion.  If  once  the  secret  of  the  talisman  should 
be  divulged,  swift  ruin  would  descend  upon  the  king- 
dom of  the  Goths.  It  must  be  guarded  strongly  and 
well,  for  in  it  lay  the  destinies  of  Spain. 

A  huge  iron  gate  closed  the  entrance  to  the  en- 
chanted palace,  and  upon  this  each  king  of  the  Goths, 
on  coming  to  the  throne,  placed  a  strong  lock,  so 
that  in  time  huge  padlocks  covered  much  of  its 
front  and  its  secrecy  seemed  amply  assured.  When 
Eoderic,  the  last  king  of  the  Goths,  came  to  the 
throne,  twenty-seven  of  such  locks  hung  upon  the 
gate.  As  for  the  keys,  some  writers  tell  us  that  they 
remained  in  the  locks,  others  say  that  they  had  been 

2  17 


18  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

hidden  and  lost ;  but  it  is  certain  that  no  one  had 
dared  to  open  a  single  one  of  the  locks;  prudence 
and  fear  guarded  the  secret  better  than  gates  and 
locks. 

At  length  the  time  came  when  the  cherished  secret 
was  to  be  divulged.  Don  Eoderic,  who  had  seized 
the  throne  by  violence,  and  bore  in  his  heart  the  fatal 
bane  of  curiosity,  determined  to  learn  what  had  lain 
for  centuries  behind  those  locks.  The  whole  affair, 
he  declared,  was  the  jest  of  an  ancient  king,  which 
did  very  well  when  superstition  ruled  the  world,  but 
which  was  far  behind  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  Two 
things  moved  the  epoch-breaking  king, — curiosity, 
that  vice  which  has  led  thousands  to  ruin,  and  avarice, 
which  has  brought  destruction  upon  thousands  more. 
"  It  is  a  treasure-house,  not  a  talisman,"  he  told 
himself.  "  Gold,  silver,  and  jewels  lie  hidden  in  its 
mouldy  depths.  My  treasury  is  empty,  and  I  should 
be  a  fool  to  let  a  cluster  of  rusty  locks  keep  me  from 
filling  it  from  this  ancient  store." 

When  it  became  known  what  Eoderic  proposed  a 
shudder  of  horror  ran  through  the  land.  Nobles 
and  bishops  hastened  to  the  audience  chamber  and 
sought  to  hinder  the  fateful  purpose  of  the  rash 
monarch.  Their  hearts  were  filled  with  dread  of 
the  perils  that  would  follow  any  meddling  with  the 
magic  spell,  and  they  earnestly  implored  him  not  to 
bring  the  foretold  disaster  upon  the  land. 

"The  kings  who  reigned  before  you  have  re^ 
ligiously  obeyed  the  injunction,"  they  said.  "  Each 
of  them  has  fixed  his  lock  to  the  gate.  It  will  be 
wise  and  prudent  in  you  to  follow  their  example.     If 


THE   ENCHANTED   PALACE.  19 

it  is  gold  and  jewels  you  look  for,  tell  us  how  much 
you  think  the  cavern  holds,  even  all  your  fancy 
hopes  to  find,  and  so  much  we  will  give  you.  Even 
if  it  beggars  us,  we  will  collect  and  bring  you  this 
sum  without  fail.  We  pray  and  implore  you,  then, 
do  not  break  a  custom  which  our  old  kings  have  all 
held  sacred.  They  knew  well  what  they  did  when 
they  commanded  that  none  after  them  should  seek 
to  disclose  the  fatal  secret  of  the  hidden  chamber." 

Earnest  as  was  their  appeal,  it  was  wasted  upon 
Roderic.  Their  offer  of  gold  did  not  reach  his  deep- 
est motive ;  curiosity  with  him  was  stronger  than 
greed,  and  he  laughed  in  his  beard  at  the  fears  and 
tremblings  of  his  lords. 

"  It  shall  not  be  said  that  Don  Eoderic,  the  king 
of  the  Goths,  fears  the  devil  or  his  agents,"  he  loudly 
declared,  and  orders  were  given  that  the  locks  should 
be  forced. 

One  by  one  the  rusty  safeguards  yielded  to  key 
or  sledge,  and  the  gates  shrieked  disapproval  when  at 
length  they  reluctantly  turned  on  their  stiff  hinges, 
that  had  not  moved  for  centuries.  Into  the  cavern 
strode  the  king,  followed  by  his  fearful  but  curious 
train.  The  rooms,  as  tradition  had  said,  were  many, 
and  from  room  to  room  he  hurried  with  rapid  feet. 
He  sought  in  vain.  No  gold  appeared,  no  jewels 
glittered  on  his  sight.  The  rooms  were  drear  and 
empty,  their  hollow  floors  mocking  his  footsteps  with 
long-silent  echoes.  One  treasure  only  he  found,  the 
jewelled  table  of  Solomon,  a  famous  ancient  work 
of  art  which  had  long  remained  hidden  from  human 
eight.     Of  this  wonderful  relic  we  shall  say  no  more 


20  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

here,  for  it  has  a  history  of  its  own,  to  be  told  in  a 
future  tale. 

On  and  on  went  the  disappointed  king,  with 
nothing  to  satisfy  his  avarice  or  his  curiosity.  At 
length  he  entered  the  chamber  of  the  spell,  the  magic 
room  which  had  so  long  been  locked  from  human 
vision,  and  looked  with  eyes  of  wonder  on  the  secret 
which  had  been  so  carefully  preserved. 

What  he  saw  was  simple  but  threatening.  On  the 
wall  of  the  room  was  a  rude  painting,  which  repre- 
sented a  group  of  strangely  dressed  horsemen,  some 
wearing  turbans,  some  bareheaded,  with  locks  of 
coarse  black  hair  hanging  over  their  foreheads.  The 
skins  of  animals  covered  their  limbs ;  they  carried 
scimitars  and  lances  and  bore  fluttering  pennons; 
their  horses  were  small,  but  of  purest  breed. 

Turning  in  doubt  and  dread  from  this  enigmatical 
drawing,  the  daring  intruder  saw  in  the  centre  of 
the  apartment  a  pedestal  bearing  a  marble  urn,  in 
which  lay  a  scroll  of  parchment.  From  this  one  of 
his  scribes  read  the  following  words : 

"  Whenever  this  asylum  is  violated  and  the  spell 
contained  in  this  urn  broken,  the  people  shown  in 
the  picture  shall  invade  the  land  and  overturn  the 
throne  of  its  kings.  The  rule  of  the  Goths  shall  end 
and  the  whole  country  fall  into  the  hands  of  heathen 
strangers." 

King  Eoderic  looked  again  with  eyes  of  alarm 
on  the  pictured  forms.  Well  he  knew  their  mean- 
ing. The  turban- wearers  were  Arabians,  their  horses 
the  famous  steeds  of  the  desert;  the  bare-headed 
barbarians  were  Berbers  or  Moors.     Already  they 


THE  ENCHANTED  PALACE.  21 

threatened  the  land  from  Africa's  shores ;  he  had 
broken  the  spell  which  held  them  back;  the  time 
for  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  was  at  hand. 

Filled  with  sudden  terror,  the  rash  invader  hurried 
from  the  chamber  of  the  talisman,  his  courtiers  flying 
with  wild  haste  to  the  open  air.  The  brazen  gates 
were  closed  with  a  clang  which  rang  dismally  through 
the  empty  rooms,  and  the  lock  of  the  king  was  fixed 
upon  them.  But  it  was  too  late.  The  voice  of  des- 
tiny had  spoken  and  the  fate  of  the  kingdom  been 
revealed,  and  all  the  people  looked  upon  Don  Eod- 
eric  as  a  doomed  man. 

We  have  given  this  legend  in  its  mildest  form. 
Some  Arab  writers  surround  it  with  magical  inci- 
dents until  it  becomes  a  tale  worthy  of  the  "  Arabian 
Nights'  Entertainments."  They  speak  of  two  an- 
cient men  with  snowy  beards  who  kept  the  keys  of 
the  gate  and  opened  the  locks  only  at  Eoderic's 
stern  command.  When  the  locks  were  removed  no 
one  could  stir  the  gates  until  the  hand  of  the  king 
touched  them,  when  they  sprang  open  of  themselves. 
Inside  stood  a  huge  bronze  giant  with  a  club  of  steel, 
with  which  he  dealt  resounding  blows  on  the  floor 
to  right  and  left.  He  desisted  at  the  king's  com- 
mand, and  the  train  entered  unharmed.  In  the 
magic  chamber  they  found  a  golden  casket  contain- 
ing a  linen  cloth  between  tablets  of  brass.  On  this 
were  painted  figures  of  Arabs  in  armor.  As  they 
gazed  these  began  to  move,  sounds  of  war  were 
heard,  and  the  vision  of  a  battle  between  Arab  and 
Christian  warriors  passed  before  the  affrighted  eyes 
of  the  intruders.     The  Christian  army  was  defeated, 


22  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

and  Eoderic  saw  the  image  of  himself  in  flight,  and 
finally  of  his  horse  without  a  rider.  As  he  rushed 
in  terror  from  the  fatal  room  the  bronze  giant  was 
no  longer  to  be  seen  and  the  ancient  guardians  of 
the  gate  lay  dead  upon  their  posts.  In  the  end  the 
tower  was  burned  by  magic  fire,  and  its  very  ashes 
were  scattered  by  the  wings  of  an  innumerable  flight 
of  birds. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  GUADA^ 
LETE. 

The  legends  just  given  are  full  of  the  pith  of  facts. 
Dread  of  Africa  lay  deep  in  the  Spanish  heart  and 
gave  point  to  these  and  other  magical  and  romantic 
tales.  The  story  of  how  the  great  conqueror,  Mo- 
hammed, had  come  out  from  the  deserts  of  Arabia 
and  sent  his  generals,  sword  and  Koran  in  hand,  to 
conquer  the  world,  had  spread  far  to  the  east  and 
the  west,  and  brought  terror  wherever  it  came. 
From  Arabia  the  Moslem  hordes  had  swept  through 
Egypt  and  along  the  African  coast  to  the  extremity 
of  Morocco.  They  now  faced  Spain  and  coveted 
that  rich  and  populous  land.  Well  might  the  de- 
generate sons  of  the  Goths  fear  their  coming  and 
strive  to  keep  them  out  with  talismans  and  spells. 

Years  before,  in  the  days  of  good  King  Wamba,  a 
great  Mohammedan  fleet  had  ravaged  the  Andalu' 
sian  coast.  Others  came,  not  for  conquest,  but  for 
spoil.  But  at  length  all  North  Africa  lay  under  the 
Moslem  yoke,  and  Musa  Ibn  Nasseyr,  the  conqueror 
of  the  African  tribes,  cast  eyes  of  greed  upon  Spain 
and  laid  plans  for  the  subjugation  to  Arab  rule  of 
that  far-spreading  Christian  land. 

Africa,  he  was  told,  was  rich,  but  Spain  was  richer. 
Its  soil  was  as  fertile  as  that  of  Syria,  its  climate  as 

23 


24  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

mild  and  sweet  as  that  of  Araby  the  Blest.  The 
far-famed  mines  of  distant  Cathay  did  not  equal  it 
in  wealth  of  minerals  and  gems ;  nowhere  else  were 
such  harbors,  nowhere  such  highlands  and  plains. 
The  mountain-ranges,  beautiful  to  see,  enclosed  val- 
leys of  inexhaustible  fertility.  It  was  a  land  "  plen- 
tiful in  waters,  renowned  for  their  sweetness  and 
clearness," — Andalusia's  noble  streams.  Famous 
monuments  graced  its  towns :  the  statue  of  Hercules 
at  Cadiz,  the  idol  of  Galicia,  the  stately  ruins  of 
Merida  and  Tarragona.  It  was  a  realm  the  con- 
quest of  which  would  bring  wealth  and  fame, — great 
glory  to  the  sons  of  Allah  and  great  treasure  to  the 
successors  of  the  Prophet.  Musa  determined  upon 
its  invasion. 

A  traitor  came  to  his  aid.  Count  Julian  was  gov- 
ernor of  Ceuta,  a  Spanish  city  on  the  African  coast. 
His  daughter  Florinda  was  maid  of  honor  to  the 
queen  of  Don  Eoderic.  But  word  from  the  daugh- 
ter came  to  the  father  that  she  had  suffered  grievous 
injury  at  the  hands  of  the  king,  and  Count  Julian, 
thirsting  for  revenge  upon  Eoderic,  offered  to  deliver 
Ceuta  into  the  hands  of  the  Arabian  warrior  and 
aid  him  in  the  conquest  of  Spain.  To  test  the  good 
faith  of  Juhan,  Musa  demanded  that  he  should  first 
invade  Andalusia  himself  This  he  did,  taking  over 
a  small  force  in  two  vessels,  overrunning  the  coast 
country,  killing  many  of  its  people,  and  returning 
with  a  large  booty  in  slaves  and  plunder. 

In  the  summer  of  710  a  Berber  named  Tarif  was 
sent  over  to  spy  out  the  land,  and  in  the  spring  of 
711  the  army  of  invasion  was  led  over  by  Tarik  Ibn 


THE   BATTLE  Oi^  THE   GUADALETE.  25 

Zeyad,  a  valiant  chief,  who  had  gained  great  glory 
in  the  wars  with  the  Berber  tribes.  Who  Tarik  was 
cannot  be  told.  He  was  of  humble  origin,  probably 
of  Persian  birth,  but  possessed  of  a  daring  spirit  that 
was  to  bring  him  the  highest  fame.  He  is  described 
as  a  tall  man,  with  red  hair  and  a  white  complexion, 
blind  of  one  eye,  and  with  a  mole  on  his  hand.  The 
Spanish  historians  call  him  Tarik  el  Tuerto,  meaning 
either  "  one-eyed"  or  "  squint-eyed."  Such  was  the 
man  whom  Musa  sent  to  begin  the  conquest  of  Spain. 

The  army  of  invasion  consisted  of  seven  thousand 
men, — a  handful  to  conquer  a  kingdom.  They  were 
nearly  all  Moorish  and  Berber  cavalry,  there  being 
only  three  hundred  Arabians  of  pure  blood,  most  of 
whom  were  officers.  Landing  in  Spain,  for  a  time 
they  found  no  one  to  meet  them.  Eoderic  was  busy 
with  his  army  in  the  north  and  knew  naught  of  this 
invasion  of  his  kingdom,  and  for  two  months  Tarik 
ravaged  the  land  at  his  will.  But  at  length  the 
Gothic  king,  warned  of  his  danger,  began  a  hasty 
march  southward,  sending  orders  in  advance  to  levy 
troops  in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  the  rallying  place 
being  Cordova. 

It  was  a  large  army  which  he  thus  got  together, 
but  they  were  ill-trained,  ill-disciplined,  and  ill- 
disposed  to  their  king.  Mnety  thousand  there  were, 
as  Arab  historians  tell  us,  while  Tarik  had  but  twelve 
thousand,  Musa  having  sent  him  five  thousand  more. 
But  the  large  army  was  a  mob,  half-armed,  and 
lacking  courage  and  discipline;  the  small  army  was 
a  compact  and  valorous  body,  used  to  victory,  fear- 
less, and  impetuous. 


26  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

It  was  on  Sunday,  the  19th  of  July,  711,  that  the 
two  armies  came  face  to  face  on  the  banks  of  the 
Guadalete,  a  river  whose  waters  traverse  the  plain 
of  Sidonia,  in  which  the  battle  was  fought.  It  was 
one  of  the  decisive  battles  in  the  world's  history,  for 
it  gave  the  peninsula  of  Spain  for  eight  centuries  to 
Arab  dominion.  The  story  of  how  this  battle  was 
fought  is,  therefore,  among  the  most  important  of 
the  historical  tales  of  Spain. 

Eoderic's  army  consisted  of  two  bodies  of  men, — 
a  smaller  force  of  cavaliers,  clad  in  mail  armor  and 
armed  with  swords  and  battle-axes,  and  the  main 
body,  which  was  a  motley  crew,  without  armor,  and 
carrying  bows,  lances,  axes,  clubs,  scythes,  and  slings. 
Of  the  Moslem  army  the  greater  number  wore  mail, 
some  carrying  lances  and  scimitars  of  Damascus 
steel,  others  being  armed  with  light  long-bows. 
Their  horses  were  Arabian  or  Barbary  steeds,  such 
as  Koderic  had  seen  on  the  walls  of  the  secret 
chamber. 

It  was  in  the  early  morning  of  a  bright  spring 
day  that  the  Spanish  clarions  sounded  defiance  to 
the  enemy,  and  the  Moorish  horns  and  kettle-drums 
rang  back  the  challenge  to  battle.  Nearer  and 
nearer  together  came  the  hosts,  the  shouts  of  the 
Goths  met  by  the  shrill  lelies  of  the  Moslems. 

"By  the  faith  of  the  Messiah,"  Eoderic  is  re- 
ported to  have  said,  "  these  are  the  very  men  I  saw 
painted  on  the  walls  of  the  chamber  of  the  spell  at 
Toledo."  From  that  moment,  say  the  chroniclers, 
"  fear  entered  his  heart."  And  yet  the  story  goes  that 
he  fought  long  and  well  and  showed  no  signs  of  fear. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE   GtJADALETE.  27 

On  his  journey  to  the  south  Eoderic  had  travelled 
in  a  chariot  of  ivory,  lined  with  cloth  of  gold,  and 
drawn  by  three  white  mules  harnessed  abreast.  On 
the  silken  awning  of  the  chariot  pearls,  rubies,  and 
other  rich  jewels  were  profusely  sprinkled.  He  sat 
with  a  crown  of  gold  on  his  head,  and  was  dressed 
in  a  robe  made  of  strings  of  pearls  interwoven  with 
silk.  This  splendor  of  display,  however,  was  not 
empty  ostentation,  but  the  state  and  dignity  which 
was  customary  with  the  Gothic  kings. 

In  his  chariot  of  ivory  Eoderic  passed  through 
the  ranks,  exhorting  the  men  to  valor,  and  telling 
them  that  the  enemy  was  a  low  rabble  of  heathens, 
abhorred  of  God  and  men.  "Eemember,"  he  said, 
"  the  valor  of  your  ancestors  and  the  holy  Christian 
faith,  for  whose  defence  we  are  fighting."  Then  he 
sprang  from  his  chariot,  put  on  his  horned  helmet, 
mounted  his  war-horse  Orelia,  and  took  his  station 
in  the  field,  prepared  to  fight  like  a  soldier  and  a 
king. 

For  two  days  the  battle  consisted  of  a  series  of 
skirmishes.  At  the  end  of  that  time  the  Christians 
had  the  advantage.  Their  numbers  had  told,  and 
new  courage  came  to  their  hearts.  Tarik  saw  that 
defeat  would  be  his  lot  if  this  continued,  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  third  day  he  made  a  fiery  appeal  to 
his  men,  rousing  their  fanaticism  and  picturing  the 
treasures  and  delights  which  victory  would  bring 
them.  He  ended  with  his  war-cry  of  "  Guala ! 
Guala !  Follow  me,  my  warriors !  I  shall  not  stop 
until  I  reach  the  tyrant  in  the  midst  of  his  steel- 
clad  warriors,  and  either  kill  him  or  he  kill  me  I" 


28  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

At  the  head  of  his  men  the  dusky  one-eyed  war- 
rior rushed  with  fiery  energy  upon  the  Gothic  lines, 
cleaving  his  way  through  the  ranks  towards  a  gen- 
eral whose  rich  armor  seemed  to  him  that  of  the 
king.  His  impetuous  charge  carried  him  deep  into 
their  midst.  The  seeming  king  was  before  him. 
One  blow  and  he  fell  dead ;  while  the  Moslems,  cry- 
ing that  the  king  of  the  Goths  was  killed,  followed 
their  leader  with  resistless  ardor  into  the  hostile 
ranks.  The  Christians  heard  and  believed  the 
story,  and  lost  heart  as  their  enemy  gained  new 
energy. 

At  this  critical  moment,  as  we  are  told.  Bishop 
Oppas,  brother-in-law  of  the  traitor  Julian,  drew  off 
and  joined  the  Moslem  ranks.  Whether  this  was 
the  case  or  not,  the  charge  of  Tarik  led  the  way  to 
victory.  He  had  pierced  the  Christian  centre.  The 
wings  gave  way  before  the  onset  of  his  chiefs.  Ee- 
sistance  was  at  an  end.  In  utter  panic  the  soldiers 
flung  away  their  arms  and  took  to  flight,  heedless 
of  the  stores  and  treasures  of  their  camp,  thinking 
of  nothing  but  safety,  flying  in  all  directions  through 
the  country,  while  the  Moslems,  following  on  their 
flying  steeds,  cut  them  down  without  mercy. 

Eoderic,  the  king,  had  disappeared.  If  slain  in 
the  battle,  his  body  was  never  found.  Wounded  and 
despairing,  he  may  have  been  slain  in  flight  or  been 
drowned  in  the  stream.  It  was  afterwards  said  that 
his  war-horse,  its  golden  saddle  rich  with  rubies, 
was  found  riderless  beside  the  stream,  and  that  near 
by  lay  a  royal  crown  and  mantle,  and  a  sandal  em- 
broidered with  pearls  and  emeralds.    But  all  we  can 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  GUADALETE.        29 

safely  say  is  that  Eoderic  had  vanished,  his  army 
was  dispersed,  and  Spain  was  the  prize  of  Tarik  and 
the  Moors,  for  resistance  was  quickly  at  an  end,  and 
they  went  on  from  victory  to  victory  until  the  coun- 
try was  nearly  all  in  their  hands. 


THE   TABLE   OF  SOLOMON. 

We  have  told  how  King  Roderic,  when  he  in- 
vaded the  enchanted  palace  of  Toledo,  found  in  its 
empty  chambers  a  single  treasure, — the  famous  table 
of  Solomon.  But  this  was  a  treasure  worth  a  kincr's 
ransom,  a  marvellous  talisman,  so  splendid,  so  beau- 
tiful, so  brilliant  that  the  chroniclers  can  scarce  find 
words  fitly  to  describe  its  richness  and  value.  Some 
say  that  it  was  made  of  pure  gold,  richly  inlaid  with 
precious  stones.  Others  say  that  it  was  a  mosaic  of 
gold  and  silver,  burnished  yellow  and  gleaming 
white,  ornamented  with  three  rows  of  priceless 
jewels,  one  being  of  large  pearls,  one  of  costly 
rubies,  and  a  third  of  gleaming  emeralds.  Other 
writers  say  that  its  top  was  made  of  a  single  emer- 
ald, a  talisman  revealing  the  fates  in  its  lucid  depths. 
Most  writers  say  that  it  stood  upon  three  hundred 
and  sixty-five  feet,  each  made  of  a  single  emerald, 
though  still  another  writer  declares  that  it  had  not 
a  foot  to  stand  upon. 

Evidently  none  of  these  worthy  chroniclers  had 
seen  the  jewelled  table  except  in  the  eye  of  fancy, 
which  gave  it  what  shape  and  form  best  fitted  its 
far-famed  splendor.  They  varied  equally  in  their 
history  of  the  talisman.  A  mildly  drawn  story  says 
that  it  first  came  from  Jerusalem  to  Rome,  that  it 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Goths  when  they  sacked 


THE   TABLE   OP   SOLOMON.  31 

the  city  of  the  Csesars,  and  that  some  of  them  brought 
it  into  Spain.  But  there  was  a  story  more  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  Arabian  love  of  the  marvellous 
which  stated  that  the  table  was  the  work  of  the 
Djinn,  or  Genii,  the  mighty  spirits  of  the  air,  whom 
the  wise  king  Solomon  had  subdued  and  who  obeyed 
his  commands.  After  Solomon's  time  it  was  kept 
among  the  holy  treasures  of  the  temple,  and  became 
one  of  the  richest  spoils  of  the  Komans  when  they 
captured  and  sacked  Jerusalem.  It  afterwards  be- 
came the  prize  of  a  king  of  Spain,  perhaps  in  the 
way  stated  above. 

Thus  fancy  has  adorned  the  rich  and  beautiful 
work  of  art  which  Don  Eoderlc  is  said  to  have 
found  in  the  enchanted  palace,  and  which  he  placed 
as  the  noblest  of  the  treasures  of  Spain  in  the  splen- 
did church  of  Toledo,  the  Gothic  capital.  This  city 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Tarik  el  Tuerto  in  his  conquer- 
ing progress  through  the  realm  of  Spain,  and  the 
emerald  table,  whose  fame  had  reached  the  shores 
of  Africa,  was  sought  by  him  far  and  near. 

It  had  disappeared  from  the  church,  perhaps  car- 
ried off  by  the  bishop  in  his  flight.  But  fast  as  the 
fugitives  fled,  faster  rode  the  Arab  horsemen  on  their 
track,  one  swift  troop  riding  to  Medina  Celi,  on  the 
high  road  to  Saragossa.  On  thie  route  they  came 
to  a  city  named  by  them  Medinatu-1-Mayidah  (city 
of  the  table),  in  which  they  found  the  famous  talis- 
man. Thej^  brought  it  to  Tarik  as  one  of  the  choicest 
spoils  of  Spain. 

Its  later  history  is  as  curious  and  much  more  au- 
thentic than  its  earlier.     Tarik,  as  we  have  told  in 


32  .      HISTORICAL   TALES. 

the  previous  tale,  had  been  sent  to  Andalusia  by 
Musa,  the  caliph's  viceroy  in  Africa,  simply  that  he 
might  gain  a  footing  in  the  land,  whose  conquest 
Musa  reserved  for  himself.  But  the  impetuous  Tarik 
was  not  to  be  restrained.  No  sooner  was  Eoderic 
slain  and  his  army  dispersed  than  the  Arab  cavaliers 
spread  far  and  wide  through  Spain,  city  after  city 
falling  into  their  hands,  until  it  seemed  as  if  nothing 
would  be  left  for  Musa  to  conquer. 

This  state  of  affairs  was  far  from  agreeable  to  the 
jealous  and  ambitious  viceroy.  He  sent  messengers 
to  the  caliph  at  Damascus,  in  which  he  claimed  the 
conquest  of  Spain  as  his  own,  and  barely  mentioned 
the  name  of  the  real  conqueror.  He  severely  blamed 
Tarik  for  presuming  to  conquer  a  kingdom  without 
direct  orders,  and,  gathering  an  army,  he  crossed  to 
Spain,  that  he  might  rightfully  claim  a  share  in  the 
glory  of  the  conquest. 

Tarik  was  not  ignorant  of  what  Musa  had  done. 
He  expected  to  be  called  sharply  to  account  by  his 
jealous  superior,  and  knew  well  that  his  brilliant 
deeds  had  been  overlooked  in  the  viceroy's  de- 
spatches to  Damascus,  then  the  capital  of  the  Arab 
empire.  The  daring  soldier  was  therefore  full  of  joy 
when  the  table  of  Solomon  fell  into  his  hands.  He 
hoped  to  win  favor  from  Al-Walid,  the  caliph,  by 
presenting  him  this  splendid  prize.  Yet  how  was 
he  to  accomplish  this  ?  Would  not  Musa,  who  was 
well  aware  of  the  existence  and  value  of  the  table, 
claim  it  as  his  own  and  send  it  to  Al-Walid  with  the 
false  story  that  he  had  won  it  by  the  power  of  his 
arms? 


THE   TABLE   OF   SOLOMON.  33 

To  defeat  this  probable  act  Tarik  devised  a  shrewd 
stratagem.  The  table,  as  has  been  stated,  was 
abundantly  provided  with  feet,  but  of  these  four 
were  larger  than  the  rest.  One  of  the  latter  Tarik 
took  off  and  concealed,  to  be  used  in  the  future  if 
what  he  feared  should  come  to  pass. 

As  it  proved,  he  had  not  misjudged  his  jealous  lord. 
In  due  time  Musa  came  to  Toledo  and  rode  in  state 
through  the  gate-way  of  that  city,  Tarik  following 
like  a  humble  servitor  in  his  train.  As  soon  as  he 
reached  the  palace  he  haughtily  demanded  a  strict 
account  of  the  spoils.  These  were  at  hand,  and  were 
at  once  delivered  up.  Their  number  and  value  should 
have  satisfied  his  avarice,  but  the  wonderful  table  of 
Solomon,  of  which  he  had  heard  such  marvellous 
accounts,  was  not  among  them,  and  he  demanded 
that  this,  too,  should  be  brought  forward.  As  Tarik 
had  foreseen,  he  designed  to  send  it  to  the  caliph,  as 
an  acceptable  present  and  an  evidence  of  his  victori- 
ous career. 

The  table  was  produced,  and  Musa  gazed  upon  it 
with  eyes  of  delight.  His  quick  glance,  however, 
soon  discovered  that  one  of  the  emerald  feet  was 
missing. 

"  It  is  imperfect,"  he  said.  "  Where  is  the  missing 
foot?" 

"  That  I  cannot  tell  you,"  replied  Tarik ;  "  you 
have  the  table  as  it  was  brought  to  me." 

Musa,  accepting  this  answer  without  suspicion, 
gave  orders  that  the  lost  foot  should  be  replaced  with 
one  of  gold.  Then,  after  thanking  the  other  leading 
officers  for  their  zeal  and  valor,  he  turned  upon  Tarik 

3 


34  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

and  accused  him  in  severe  tones  of  disobedience. 
He  ended  by  depriving  him  of  his  command  and 
putting  him  under  arrest,  while  he  sent  the  caliph  a 
report  in  which  Tarik  was  sharply  blamed  and  the 
merit  of  his  exploits  made  light  of.  He  would  have 
gone  farther  and  put  him  to  death,  but  this  he  dared 
not  do  without  the  caliph's  orders. 

As  it  proved,  Al-Walid,  the  Commander  of  the 
Faithful,  knew  something  of  the  truth.  Far  distant 
as  Damascus  was  from  Toledo,  a  report  of  Tarik's 
exploits  had  reached  his  august  ears,  and  Musa  re- 
ceived orders  to  replace  him  in  his  command,  since 
it  would  not  do  "  to  render  useless  one  of  the  best 
swords  of  Islam."  Musa  dared  not  disobey;  and 
thus,  for  the  time  being,  Tarik  triumphed. 

And  now,  for  the  end  of  the  trouble  between  Musa 
and  Tarik,  we  must  go  forward  in  time.  They  were 
left  in  Spain  until  they  had  completed  the  conquest 
of  that  kingdom,  then  both  were  ordered  to  appear 
before  the  cahph's  judgment  seat.  This  they  did  in 
different  methods.  Tarik,  who  had  no  thirst  for 
spoil,  made  haste,  with  empty  hands,  to  Damascus, 
where,  though  he  had  no  rich  presents  for  the  com- 
mander of  the  faithful,  he  delighted  him  with  the 
story  of  his  brilliant  deeds.  Musa  came  more  slowly 
and  with  more  ostentation.  Leaving  his  sons  in 
command  in  Spain  and  Africa,  he  journeyed  slowly 
to  Syria,  with  all  the  display  of  a  triumphal  march. 
With  him  were  one  hundred  of  his  principal  officers, 
as  many  sons  of  the  highest  Berber  chiefs,  and  the 
kings  of  the  Balearic  Islands  in  all  their  barbaric 
state.     In  his  train  rode  four  hundred  captive  nobles, 


THE   TABLE   OP   SOLOMON.  35 

each  wearing  a  crown  and  girdle  of  gold,  and  thirty 
thousand  captives  of  lower  rank.  At  intervals  in 
the  train  were  camels  and  wagons,  richly  laden  with 
gold,  jewels,  and  other  spoils.  He  brought  to  the 
East  the  novelties  of  the  West,  hawks,  mules,  and 
Barbary  horses,  and  the  curious  fruits  of  Africa  and 
Spain,  "  treasures,"  we  are  told,  "  the  like  of  which 
no  hearer  ever  heard  of  before,  and  no  beholder  ever 
saw  before  his  eyes." 

Thus  the  proud  conqueror  came,  by  slow  marches, 
with  frequent  halts.  He  left  Spain  in  August,  713. 
It  was  February,  715,  when  he  reached  the  vicinity 
of  Damascus,  having  spent  a  year  and  a  half  on  the 
way. 

Meanwhile,  changes  had  taken  place  in  Syria. 
Al-Walid,  the  caliph,  was  sick  unto  death,  suffering 
from  a  mortal  disease.  Soliman,  his  brother  and 
heir,  wrote  to  Musa  when  at  Tiberias,  on  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  asking  him  to  halt  there,  as  his  brother  could 
live  but  a  few  days.  He,  as  the  new  caliph,  would 
receive  him.  Al-Walid  in  turn  ordered  him  to  hasten 
his  march.  Musa  was  in  a  quandary.  If  Al-Walid 
should  live,  delay  might  be  fatal.  If  he  should  die, 
haste  might  be  fatal.  He  took  what  seemed  to  him 
the  safest  course,  hastened  to  Damascus,  and  met 
with  a  brilliant  reception.  But  a  change  soon  came  ; 
in  forty  days  Al-Walid  died  ;  Soliman,  whom  he  had 
disobeyed,  was  caliph  of  the  empire.  Musa's  sun 
was  near  its  setting. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  conqueror  found  him- 
self treated  as  a  criminal.  He  was  charged  with 
rapacity,  injustice   to  Tarik,   and   the   purpose  of 


36  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

throwing  all  power  into  the  hands  of  his  sons.  He 
was  even  accused  of  "  disobedience"  for  making  a 
triumphal  entry  into  Damascus  before  the  death  of 
Al-Walid.  These  and  other  charges  were  brought, 
Soliman  being  bent  on  the  ruin  of  the  man  who  had 
added  Africa  to  the  Arabian  empire. 

When  Musa  was  brought  before  the  caliph  for  a 
final  hearing  Tarik  and  many  other  soldiers  from 
Spain  were  present,  and  there  stood  before  the  mon- 
arch's throne  the  splendid  table  of  Solomon,  one  of 
the  presents  which  Musa  had  made  to  Al-Walid,  de- 
claring it  to  be  the  most  magnificent  of  all  the  prizes 
of  his  valor. 

"  Tell  me,"  said  the  caliph  to  Tarik,  "  if  you  know 
whence  this  table  came." 

"  It  was  found  by  me,"  answered  Tarik.  "  If  you 
would  have  evidence  of  the  truth  of  my  words,  O 
caliph,  have  it  examined  and  see  if  it  be  perfect." 

Soliman  gave  orders,  the  table  was  closely  ex- 
amined, and  it  was  soon  discovered  that  one  of  its 
emerald  feet  was  gone  and  that  a  foot  of  gold  occu- 
pied its  place. 

"  Ask  Musa,"  said  Tarik,  "  if  this  was  the  condi- 
tion of  the  table  when  he  found  it." 

"Yes,"  answered  Musa,  "it  was  as  you  see  it 
now." 

Tarik  answered  by  taking  from  under  his  mantle 
the  foot  of  emerald  which  he  had  removed,  and 
which  just  matched  the  others. 

"You  may  learn  now,"  he  said  to  the  caliph, 
"which  of  us  is  the  truth-teller.  Here  is  the  lost 
leg  of  the  table.     I  found  the  table  and  kept  this  for 


THE   TABLE   OF   SOLOMON.  37 

evidence.  It  is  the  same  with  most  of  the  treasures 
Musa  has  shown  you.  It  was  I  who  won  them  and 
captured  the  cities  in  which  they  were  found.  Ask 
any  of  these  soldiers  if  I  speak  the  truth  or  not." 

These  words  were  ruinous  to  Musa.  The  table 
had  revenged  its  finder.  If  Musa  had  lied  in  this 
case,  he  had  lied  in  all.  So  held  the  angry  caliph, 
who  turned  upon  him  with  bitter  abuse,  calling  him 
thief  and  liar,  and  swearing  by  Allah  that  he  would 
crucify  him.  In  the  end  he  ordered  the  old  man, 
fourscore  years  of  age,  corpulent  and  asthmatic,  to 
be  exposed  to  the  fierce  sun  of  Syria  for  a  whole 
summer's  day,  and  bade  his  brother  Omar  to  see  that 
the  cruel  sentence  was  executed. 

Until  high  noon  had  passed  the  old  warrior  stood 
under  the  scorching  solar  rays,  his  blood  at  length 
seeming  to  boil  in  his  veins,  while  he  sank  suffocated 
to  the  earth.  Death  would  soon  have  ended  his 
suffering  had  not  Omar,  declaring  "that  he  had 
never  passed  a  worse  day  in  his  life,"  prevailed  upon 
the  caliph  to  abridge  his  punishment. 

Bent  upon  his  utter  ruin,  the  vindictive  Soliman 
laid  upon  him  the  enormous  fine  of  four  million  and 
thirty  thousand  dinars,  equal  to  about  ten  million 
dollars.  His  sons  were  left  in  power  in  Spain  that 
they  might  aid  him  in  paying  the  fine.  Great  as 
the  sum  was,  Musa,  by  giving  up  his  own  fortune, 
by  the  aid  of  his  sons  in  Africa  and  Spain,  and  by 
assistance  from  his  friends,  succeeded  in  obtaining 
it.  But  even  this  did  not  satisfy  the  caliph,  who 
now  banished  him  to  his  birthplace,  that  his  early 
friends  might  see  and  despise  him  in  his  ruin.     He 


38  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

even  determined  to  destroy  his  sons,  that  the  whole 
family  might  be  rooted  out  and  none  be  left  in  whose 
veins  the  blood  of  Musa  ran. 

The  ablest  of  these  sons,  Abdul-Aziz,  had  been  left 
in  chief  command  over  Spain.  Thither  the  caliph 
sent  orders  for  his  death.  Much  as  the  young  ruler 
was  esteemed,  wisely  as  he  had  ruled,  no  one  thought 
of  questioning  an  order  of  the  Commander  of  the 
Faithful,  the  mighty  autocrat  of  the  great  Arabian 
empire,  and  the  innocent  Abdul  was  assassinated  by 
some  who  had  been  among  his  chief  friends.  His 
head  was  then  cut  off,  embalmed,  and  sent  to  Soli- 
man,  before  whom  it  was  laid,  enclosed  in  a  casket 
of  precious  wood. 

Sending  for  Musa,  the  vindictive  caliph  had  the 
casket  opened  in  his  presence,  saying,  as  the  death- 
like features  appeared,  "Do  you  know  whose  head 
that  is?" 

The  answer  of  Musa  was  a  pathetic  one.  Never 
was  there  a  Moslem,  he  said,  who  less  deserved  such 
a  fate ;  never  a  man  of  milder  heart,  braver  soul,  or 
more  pious  and  obedient  disposition.  In  the  end 
the  poor  old  man  broke  down,  and  he  could  only 
murmur, — 

"  Grant  me  his  head,  O  Commander  of  the  Faith- 
ful, that  I  may  shut  the  lids  of  his  eyes." 

"  Thou  mayest  take  it,"  was  Soliman's  reply. 

And  so  Musa  left  the  caliph's  presence,  heart- 
broken and  disconsolate.  It  is  said  that  before  he 
died  he  was  forced  to  beg  his  bread.  Of  Tarik  we 
hear  no  more.  He  had  fully  repaid  Musa  for  his 
injustice,  but  the  caliph,  who  perhaps  feared  to  let 


TIIIJ  TAfiLE  Oi'  SOLOMOK.  39 

any  one  become  too  great,  failed  to  restore  him  to 
his  command,  and  he  disappeared  from  history. 
The  cruel  Soliman  lived  only  a  year  after  the  death 
of  the  victim  of  his  rage.  He  died  in  717,  of  re- 
morse for  his  injustice  to  Musa,  say  some,  but  the 
record  of  history  is  that  he  was  defeated  before  Con- 
stantinople and  died  of  grief. 

Thus  ends  our  story  of  the  table  of  Solomon.  It 
brought  good  to  none  who  had  to  do  with  it,  and 
utter  disaster  to  him  who  had  made  it  an  agent  of 
falsehood  and  avarice.  Injustice  cannot  hope  to 
hide  itself  behind  a  talisman. 


THE  STOR  YOFQ  UEEN  EXIL  ON  A. 

When  Eoderic  overthrew  the  ancient  dynasty  of 
Spain  and  made  himself  king,  he  had  the  defences 
of  the  cities  thrown  down  that  they  might  not  give 
shelter  to  his  enemies.  Only  the  walls  of  the  frontier 
cities  were  left,  and  among  these  was  the  ancient 
city  of  Denia,  on  the  Mediterranean  shores.  Dread 
of  the  Moorish  pirates  was  felt  in  this  stronghold, 
and  a  strong  castle  was  built  on  a  high  rock  that 
overlooked  the  sea.  To  the  old  alcaide  who  served 
as  governor  of  Denia  word  was  brought,  at  the  end 
of  a  day  of  fierce  tempest,  that  a  Moorish  ship  was 
approaching  the  shore.  Instantly  the  bells  were 
rung  to  rouse  the  people,  and  signal  fires  were 
kindled  on  the  tower  that  they  might  flash  from 
peak  to  peak  the  news  of  an  invasion  by  the  Moors. 

But  as  the  ship  came  closer  it  was  seen  that  alarm 
had  been  taken  too  soon.  The  vessel  was  alone  and 
had  evidently  been  in  the  grip  of  the  tempest.  It 
was  seen  to  be  a  bark  rich  in  carving  and  gilding, 
adorned  with  silken  banderoles,  and  driven  through 
the  water  by  banks  of  crimson  oars ;  a  vessel  of  state 
and  ceremony,  not  a  ship  of  war.  As  it  came  nearer 
it  was  perceived  to  have  suffered  severely  in  the 
ruthless  grasp  of  the  storm.  Broken  were  its  masts 
and  shattered  its  oars,  while  there  fluttered  in  the 
wind  the  torn  remnants  of  its  banners  and  sails. 
40 


THE   STORY   OP   QUEEN   EXILONA.  41 

When  at  length  it  grounded  on  the  sands  below  the 
castle  the  proud  bark  was  little  better  than  a  shat- 
tered wreck. 

It  was  with  deep  curiosity  that  the  Spaniards  saw 
on  the  deck  of  the  stranded  bark  a  group  of  high- 
born Moors,  men  and  maidens  dressed  in  robes  of 
silk  rich  with  jewels,  and  their  features  bearing  the 
stamp  of  lofty  rank.  In  their  midst  stood  a  young 
lady  of  striking  beauty,  sumptuously  attired,  and  evi- 
dently of  the  highest  station,  for  all  paid  ber  rever- 
ence, and  a  guard  of  armed  Moors  stood  around  her, 
scimitar  in  hand. 

On  landing,  a  venerable  Moor  approached  the  al- 
caide, who  had  descended  to  meet  the  strangers,  and 
said,  in  such  words  of  the  Gothic  language  as  he 
could  command, — 

"  Worthy  sir,  we  beg  your  protection  and  com- 
passion. The  princess  under  our  care  is  the  only 
daughter  of  the  king  of  Algiers,  on  her  way  to  the 
court  of  the  king  of  Tunis,  to  whom  she  is  betrothed. 
The  tempest  has  driven  us  to  your  shores.  Be  not, 
we  implore  you,  more  cruel  than  the  storm,  which 
has  spared  us  and  our  precious  charge." 

The  alcaide  returned  a  courteous  answer,  offering 
the  princess  and  her  train  the  shelter  of  the  castle, 
but  saying  that  he  had  not  the  power  to  release  them. 
They  must  hold  themselves  the  captives  of  Eoderic, 
the  king  of  the  Goths,  to  whom  his  duty  required 
him  to  send  them.  The  fate  of  a  royal  captive,  he 
said,  could  be  decided  only  by  the  royal  voice. 

Some  days  afterwards  Elyata,  the  Moorish  prin- 
cess, entered  Toledo  in  a  procession  more  like  that  of 


42  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

a  triumphant  heroine  than  of  a  captive.  A  band  of 
Christian  horsemen  preceded  the  train.  The  Moorish 
guard,  richly  attired,  followed.  In  the  midst  rode 
the  princess,  surrounded  by  her  maidens  and  dressed 
in  her  bridal  robes,  which  were  resplendent  with 
pearls,  diamonds,  and  other  gems.  Eoderic  ad- 
vanced in  state  from  his  palace  to  receive  her,  and 
was  so  struck  with  her  beauty  and  dignity  of  aspect 
that  at  first  sight  warm  emotions  filled  his  heart. 

Elyata  was  sadly  downcast  at  her  captivity,  but 
Koderic,  though  not  releasing  her,  did  all  he  could 
to  make  her  lot  a  pleasant  one.  A  royal  palace  was 
set  aside  for  her  residence,  in  whose  spacious  apart- 
ments and  charming  groves  and  gardens  the  grief 
of  the  princess  gradually  softened  and  passed  away. 
Eoderic,  moved  by  a  growing  passion,  frequently 
visited  her,  and  in  time  soft  sentiments  woke  in  her 
heart  for  the  handsome  and  courteous  king.  When, 
in  the  end,  he  begged  her  to  become  his  bride  her 
blushes  and  soft  looks  spoke  consent. 

One  thing  was  wanting.  ^Eoderic's  bride  should 
be  a  Christian.  Taught  the  doctrines  of  the  new 
faith  by  learned  bishops,  love  as  much  as  conviction 
won  Elyata' s  consent,  and  the  Moorish  princess  was 
baptized  as  a  Christian  maiden  under  the  new  name 
of  Exilona.  The  marriage  was  celebrated  with  the 
greatest  magnificence,  and  was  followed  by  tourneys 
and  banquets  and  all  the  gayeties  of  the  time.  Some 
of  the  companions  of  the  princess  accepted  the  new 
faith  and  remained  with  her.  Those  who  clung  to 
their  old  belief  were  sent  back  to  Africa  with  rich 
presents  from  the  king,  an  embassy  going  with  them 


THE  STORY  OF  QUEEN   EXILONA.  43 

to  inform  the  monarch  of  Algiers  of  his  daughter's 
marriage,  and  to  offer  him  the  alliance  and  friend- 
shij:)  of  Eoderic  the  Gothic  king. 

Queen  Exilona  passed  a  happy  life  as  the  bride  of 
the  Gothic  monarch,  but  many  were  the  vicissitudes 
which  lay  before  her,  for  the  Arab  conquest  was 
near  at  hand  and  its  effects  could  not  but  bear  heavily 
upon  her  destiny.  After  the  defeat  and  death  of 
Eoderic  a  considerable  number  of  noble  Goths  sought 
shelter  in  the  city  of  Merida,  among  them  the 
widowed  queen.  Thither  came  Musa  with  a  large 
army  and  besieged  the  city.  It  was  strongly  and 
bravely  defended,  and  the  gallant  garrison  only 
yielded  when  famine  came  to  the  aid  of  their  foes. 

A  deputation  from  the  city  sought  the  Arab  camp 
and  was  conducted  to  the  splendid  pavilion  of  Musa, 
whom  the  deputies  found  to  be  an  old  man  with 
long  white  beard  and  streaming  white  hair.  He  re- 
ceived them  kindly,  praised  them  for  their  valor, 
and  offered  them  favorable  terms.  They  returned 
the  next  day  to  complete  the  conditions.  On  this 
day  the  Mohammedan  fast  of  Eamadhan  ended,  and 
the  Arabs,  who  had  worn  their  meanest  garb,  were 
now  in  their  richest  attire,  and  joy  had  everywhere 
succeeded  penitent  gloom.  As  for  Musa,  he  seemed 
transformed.  The  meanly  dressed  and  hoary  an- 
cient of  the  previous  visit  now  appeared  a  man  in 
the  prime  of  life,  his  beard  dark- red  in  hue,  and  his 
robes  rich  with  gold  and  jewels.  The  Goths,  to 
whom  the  art  of  dyeing  the  hair  was  unknown, 
looked  on  the  transformation  as  a  miracle. 

"  We  have  seen,"  they  said  on  their  return,  "  their 


44  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

king,  who  was  an  old  man,  become  a  young  one.  "We 
have  to  do  with  a  nation  of  prophets  who  can  change 
their  appearance  at  will  and  transform  themselves 
into  any  shape  they  like.  Our  advice  is  that  we 
should  grant  Musa  his  demands,  for  men  like  these 
we  cannot  resist." 

The  stratagem  of  the  Arab  was  successful,  the 
gates  were  opened,  and  Merida  became  a  captive  city. 
The  people  w^ere  left  their  private  wealth  and  were 
free  to  come  and  go  as  they  would,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  some  of  their  noblest,  who  were  to  be  held  as 
hostages.  Among  these  was  the  widowed  Queen 
Exilona. 

She  was  still  young  and  beautiful.  By  paying 
tribute  she  was  allowed  to  live  unmolested,  and  in  this 
way  she  passed  to  the  second  phase  of  her  romantic 
career.  Arab  fancy  has  surrounded  her  history  with 
many  surprising  incidents,  and  Lope  de  Yega,  the 
Spanish  dramatist,  has  made  her  the  heroine  of  a 
romantic  play,  but  her  actual  history  is  so  full  of 
interest  that  we  need  not  draw  contributions  from 
fable  or  invention. 

When  Musa  went  to  Syria  at  the  command  of  the 
caliph  he  left  his  son  Abdul- Aziz  as  emir  or  governor 
of  Spain.  The  new  emir  was  a  young,  handsome, 
and  gallant  man.  He  had  won  fame  in  Africa,  and 
gained  new  repute  for  wisdom  and  courage  in  Spain. 
The  Moorish  princess  who  had  become  a  Gothic  queen 
was  now  a  hostage  in  his  hands,  and  her  charms 
moved  his  susceptible  heart.  His  persuasive  tongue 
and  attractive  person  were  not  without  their  effect 
upon  the  fair  captive,  who  a  second  time  lost  her 


THE   STORY   OP  QUEEN   EXILONA.  45 

heart  to  her  captor,  and  agreed  once  more  to  become 
a  bride.  Her  first  husband  had  been  the  king  of 
Gothic  Spain.  Her  second  was  the  ruler  of  Moorish 
Spain.  She  decHned  to  yield  her  Christian  creed, 
but  she  became  his  wife  and  the  queen  of  his  heart, 
called  by  him  Ummi-Assam,  a  name  of  endearment 
common  in  Arab  households. 

Exilona  was  ambitious,  and  sought  to  induce  her 
new  husband  to  assume  the  style  of  a  king.  She 
made  him  a  crown  of  gold  and  precious  stones  which 
her  soft  persuasion  induced  him  to  wear.  She  bowed 
in  his  presence  as  if  to  a  royal  potentate,  and  to 
oblige  the  nobles  to  do  the  same  she  induced  him  to 
have  the  door-way  of  his  audience  chamber  made  so 
low  that  no  one  could  enter  it  without  making  an 
involuntary  bow.  She  even  tried  to  convert  him  to 
Christianity,  and  built  a  low  door  to  her  oratory,  so 
that  any  one  entering  would  seem  to  bow  to  the 
cross. 

These  arts  of  the  queen  proved  fatal  to  the  prince 
whom  she  desired  to  exalt,  for  this  and  other  stories 
were  told  to  the  caliph,  who  was  seeking  some  excuse 
to  proceed  against  the  sons  of  Musa,  whose  ruin  he 
had  sworn.  It  was  told  him  that  Abdul-Aziz  was 
seeking  to  make  Spain  independent  and  was  bowing 
before  strange  gods.  Soliman  asked  no  more,  but 
sent  the  order  for  his  death. 

It  was  to  friends  of  the  emir  that  the  fatal  man- 
date was  sent.  They  loved  the  mild  Abdul,  but  they 
were  true  sons  of  Islam,  and  did  not  dare  to  question 
the  order  of  the  Commander  of  the  Faithful.  The 
emir  was  then  at  a  villa  near  Seville,  whither  he  was 


46  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

accustomed  to  withdraw  from  the  cares  of  state  to 
the  society  of  his  beloved  wife.  I^^ear  by  he  had 
built  a  mosque,  and  here,  on  the  morning  of  his 
death,  he  entered  and  began  to  read  the  Koran. 

A  noise  at  the  door  disturbed  him,  and  in  a  moment 
a  throng  burst  into  the  building.  At  their  head  was 
Ilabib,  his  trusted  friend,  who  rushed  upon  him  and 
struck  him  with  a  dagger.  The  emir  was  unhurt, 
and  sought  to  escape,  but  the  others  were  quickly 
upon  him,  and  in  a  moment  his  body  was  rent  with 
dagger  strokes  and  he  had  fallen  dead.  His  head 
was  at  once  cut  off,  embalmed,  and  sent  to  the  caliph. 
The  cruel  use  made  of  it  we  have  told. 

A  wild  commotion  followed  when  the  people 
learned  of  this  murder,  but  it  was  soon  quelled. 
The  power  of  the  caliph  was  yet  too  strong  to  be 
questioned,  even  in  far-off  Spain.  What  became  of 
Bxilona  we  do  not  know.  Some  say  that  she  was 
slain  with  her  husband ;  some  that  she  survived  him 
and  died  in  privacy.  However  it  be,  her  life  was 
one  of  singular  romance. 

As  for  the  kindly  and  unfortunate  emir,  his 
memory  was  long  fondly  cherished  in  Spain,  and 
his  name  still  exists  in  the  title  of  a  valley  in  the 
suburbs  of  Antequera,  which  was  named  Abdelaxis 
in  his  honor. 


I 


PELISTES,   THE  DEFENDER    OF 
CORDOVA. 

No  sooner  had  Tarik  defeated  the  Christian  army 
on  the  fatal  field  of  Sidonia  than  he  sent  out  detach- 
ments of  horsemen  in  all  directions,  hoping  to  win 
the  leading  cities  of  Spain  before  the  people  should 
recover  from  their  terror.  One  of  these  detach- 
ments, composed  of  seven  hundred  horse,  was  sent 
against  Cordova,  an  ancient  city  which  was  to  be- 
come the  capital  of  Moslem  Spain.  This  force  was 
led  by  a  brave  soldier  named  Magued,  a  Eoman  or 
Greek  by  birth,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner  when 
a  child  and  reared  in  the  Arab  faith.  He  now 
ranked  next  to  Tarik  in  the  arts  and  stratagems  of 
war,  and  as  a  horseman  and  warrior  was  the  model 
and  admiration  of  his  followers. 

Among  the  Christian  leaders  who  had  fled  from 
the  field  of  the  Guadalete  was  an  old  and  valiant 
Gothic  noble,  Pelistes  by  name,  who  had  fought  in 
the  battle  front  until  his  son  sank  in  death  and  most 
of  his  followers  had  fallen  around  him.  Then,  with 
the  small  band  left  him,  he  rode  in  all  haste  to  Cor- 
dova, which  he  hoped  to  hold  as  a  stronghold  of  the 
Goths.  But  he  found  himself  almost  alone  in  the 
town,  most  of  whose  inhabitants  had  fled  with  their 
valuables,  so  that,  including  the  invalids  and  old 

47 


48  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

soldiers  found  there,  he  had  but  four  hundred  men 
with  whom  to  defend  the  city. 

A  river  ran  south  of  the  city  and  formed  one  of 
its  defences.  To  its  banks  came  Magued, — led,  say 
some  of  the  chronicles,  by  the  traitor,  Count  Julian, 
— and  encamped  in  a  forest  of  pines.  He  sent  her- 
alds to  the  town,  demanding  its  surrender,  and 
threatening  its  defenders  with  death  if  they  resisted. 
But  Pelistes  defied  him  to  do  his  worst. 

What  Magued  might  have  found  difficult  to  do  by 
force  he  accomplished  by  stratagem.  A  shepherd 
whom  he  had  captured  told  him  of  the  weakness  of 
the  garrison,  and  acquainted  him  with  a  method  by 
which  the  city  might  be  entered.  Forcing  the  rustic 
to  act  as  guide,  Magued  crossed  the  river  on  a  stormy 
night,  swimming  the  stream  with  his  horses,  each 
cavalier  having  a  footman  mounted  behind  bim. 
By  the  time  they  reached  the  opposite  shore  the 
rain  had  changed  to  hail,  whose  loud  pattering 
drowned  the  noise  of  the  horses'  hoofs  as  the  assail- 
ants rode  to  a  weak  place  in  the  wall  of  which  the 
shepherd  bad  told  them.  Here  the  battlements  were 
broken  and  part  of  the  wall  had  fallen,  and  near  by 
grew  a  fig-tree  whose  branches  stretched  towards 
the  breach.  Up  this  climbed  a  nimble  soldier,  and 
by  hard  effort  reached  the  broken  wall.  He  had 
taken  with  him  Magued's  turban,  whose  long  folds 
of  Hnen  were  unfolded  and  let  down  as  a  rope,  by 
whose  aid  others  soon  climbed  to  the  summit.  The 
storm  had  caused  the  sentries  to  leave  their  posts, 
and  this  part  of  the  wall  was  left  unguarded. 

In  a  short  time  a  considerable  number  of  the  as- 


PELISTES,  THE  DEFENDER  OF  CORDOVA.     49 

sailants  had  gained  the  top  of  the  wall.  Leaping 
from  the  parapet,  they  entered  the  city  and  ran  to 
the  nearest  gate,  which  they  flung  open  to  Magued 
and  his  force.  The  city  was  theirs ;  the  alarm  was 
taken  too  late,  and  all  who  resisted  were  cut  down. 
Ey  day-dawn  Cordova  was  lost  to  Spain  with  the 
exception  of  the  church  of  St.  George,  a  large  and 
strong  edifice,  in  which  Pelistes  had  taken  refuge 
with  the  remnant  of  his  men.  Here  he  found  an 
ample  supply  of  food  and  obtained  water  from  some 
secret  source,  so  that  he  was  enabled  to  hold  out 
against  the  enemy. 

For  three  long  months  the  brave  garrison  defied 
its  foes,  though  Magued  made  every  effort  to  take 
the  church.  How  they  obtained  water  was  what 
most  puzzled  him,  but  he  finally  discovered  the 
secret  through  the  aid  of  a  negro  whom  the  Chris- 
tians had  captured  and  who  escaped  from  their 
hands.  The  prisoner  had  learned  during  his  cap- 
tivity that  the  church  communicated  by  an  under- 
ground channel  with  a  spring  somewhere  without. 
This  was  sought  for  with  diligence  and  at  length 
found,  whereupon  the  water  supply  of  the  garrison 
was  cut  off  at  its  source,  and  a  new  summons  to  sur- 
render was  made. 

There  are  two  stories  of  what  afterwards  took 
place.  One  is  that  the  garrison  refused  to  surren- 
der, and  that  Magued,  deeply  exasperated,  ordered 
the  church  to  be  set  on  fire,  most  of  its  defenders 
perishing  in  the  flames.  The  other  story  is  a  far 
more  romantic  one,  and  perhaps  as  likely  to  be  true. 
This  tells  us  that  Pelistes,  weary  of  long  waiting  for 

4 


60  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

assistance  from  without,  determined  to  leave  the 
church  in  search  of  aid,  promising,  in  case  of  failure, 
to  return  and  die  with  his  friends. 

Mounted  on  the  good  steed  that  he  had  kept  alive 
in  the  church,  and  armed  with  lance,  sword,  and 
shield,  the  valiant  warrior  set  forth  before  the  dawn, 
and  rode  through  the  silent  streets,  unseen  by  senti- 
nel or  early  wayfarer.  The  vision  of  a  Christian 
knight  on  horseback  was  not  likely  to  attract  much 
attention,  as  there  were  many  renegade  Christians 
with  the  Moors,  brought  thither  in  the  train  of 
Count  Julian.  Therefore,  when  the  armed  warrior 
presented  himself  at  a  gate  of  the  city  just  as  a  for- 
aging party  was  entering,  he  rode  forth  unnoticed 
in  the  confusion  and  galloped  briskly  away  towards 
the  neighboring  mountains. 

Having  reached  there  he  stopped  to  rest,  but  to 
his  alarm  he  noticed  a  horseman  in  hot  pursuit  upon 
his  trail.  Spurring  his  steed  onward,  Pelistes  now 
made  his  way  into  the  rough  intricacies  of  the 
mountain  paths ;  but,  unluckily,  as  he  was  passing 
along  the  edge  of  a  declivity,  his  horse  stumbled  and 
rolled  down  into  the  ravine  below,  so  bruising  and 
cutting  him  in  the  fall  that,  when  he  struggled  to 
his  feet,  his  face  was  covered  with  blood. 

While  he  was  in  this  condition  the  pursuer  rode 
up.  It  proved  to  be  Magued  himself,  who  had  seen 
him  leave  the  city  and  had  followed  in  haste.  To 
his  sharp  summons  for  surrender  the  good  knight 
responded  by  drawing  his  sword,  and,  wounded  and 
bleeding  as  he  was,  put  himself  in  posture  for  de- 
fence. 


51 

The  fight  that  followed  was  as  fierce  as  some  of 
those  told  of  King  Arthur's  knights.  Long  and 
sturdily  the  two  champions  fought,  foot  to  foot, 
sword  to  scimitar,  until  their  shields  and  armor  were 
rent  and  hacked  and  the  ground  was  red  with  their 
blood.  Never  had  those  hills  seen  so  furious  a  fight 
by  so  well-matched  champions,  and  during  their 
breathing  spells  the  two  knights  gazed  upon  each 
other  with  wonder  and  admiration.  Magued  had 
never  met  so  able  an  antagonist  before,  nor  Pelistes 
encountered  so  skilfully  wielded  a  blade. 

But  the  Gothic  warrior  had  been  hurt  by  his  fall. 
This  gave  Magued  the  advantage,  and  he  sought  to 
take  his  noble  adversary  alive.  Finally,  weak  from 
loss  of  blood,  the  gallant  Goth  gave  a  last  blow  and 
fell  prostrate.  In  a  moment  Magued's  point  was  at 
his  throat,  and  he  was  bidden  to  ask  for  his  life  or 
die.  'No  answer  came.  Unlacing  the  helmet  of  the 
fallen  knight,  Magued  found  him  insensible.  As  he 
debated  with  himself  how  he  would  get  the  captive 
of  his  sword  to  the  city,  a  group  of  Moorish  cavaliers 
rode  up  and  gazed  with  astonishment  on  the  marks 
of  the  terrible  fight.  The  Christian  knight  was 
placed  by  them  on  a  sj)are  horse  and  carried  to  Cor- 
dova's streets. 

As  the  train  passed  the  beleaguered  church  its 
garrison,  seeing  their  late  leader  a  captive  in  Moor- 
ish hands,  sallied  fiercely  out  to  his  rescue,  and  for 
some  minutes  the  street  rang  sharply  with  the 
sounds  of  war.  But  numbers  gathered  to  the  de- 
fence, the  assailants  were  driven  back,  and  the 
church  was  entered  by  their  foes,  the  clash  of  arms 


52  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

resounding  within  its  sacred  precincts.  In  the  end 
most  of  the  garrison  were  killed  and  the  rest  made 
prisoners. 

The  wounded  knight  was  tenderly  cared  for  by 
his  captor,  soon  regaining  his  senses,  and  in  time 
recovering  his  health.  Magued,  who  had  come  to 
esteem  him  highly,  celebrated  his  return  to  health 
by  a  magnificent  banquet,  at  which  every  honor  was 
done  the  noble  knight.  The  Arabs  knew  well  how 
to  reward  valor,  even  in  a  foe. 

In  the  midst  of  the  banquet  Pelistes  spoke  of 
a  noble  Christian  knight  he  once  had  known,  his 
brother  in  arms  and  the  cherished  friend  of  his 
heart,  one  whom  he  had  most  admired  and  loved  of 
all  the  Gothic  host, — his  old  and  dear  comrade,  Count 
Julian. 

"  He  is  here !"  cried  some  of  the  Arabs,  enthusias- 
tically, pointing  to  a  knight  who  had  recently  en- 
tered. "  Here  is  your  old  friend  and  comrade.  Count 
Julian." 

"  That  Julian !"  cried  Pelistes,  in  tones  of  scorn ; 
"  that  traitor  and  renegade  my  friend  and  comrade ! 
No,  no;  this  is  not  Julian,  but  a  fiend  from  hell 
who  has  entered  his  body  to  bring  him  dishonor  and 
ruin." 

Turning  scornfully  away  he  strode  proudly  from 
the  room,  leaving  the  traitor  knight,  overwhelmed 
with  shame  and  confusion,  the  centre  of  a  circle  of 
scornful  looks,  for  the  Arabs  loved  not  the  traitor, 
however  they  might  have  profited  by  his  treason. 

The  fate  of  Pelistes,  as  given  in  the  Arab  chroni- 
cles, was  a  tragic  one.     Magued,  who   had  never 


PELISTES,  THE  DEFENDER  OF  CORDOVA.     53 

before  met  his  equal  at  sword  play,  proposed  to  send 
him  to  Damascus,  thinking  that  so  brave  a  man 
would  be  a  fitting  present  to  the  caliph  and  a  living 
testimony  to  his  own  knightly  prowess.  But  others 
valued  the  prize  of  valor  as  well  as  Magued,  Tarik 
demanding  that  the  valiant  prisoner  should  be  de- 
livered to  him,  and  Musa  afterwards  claiming  posses- 
sion. The  controversy  ended  in  a  manner  suitable 
to  the  temper  of  the  times,  Magued  slaying  the  cap- 
tive with  his  own  hand  rather  than  deliver  to  others 
the  prize  of  his  sword  and  shield. 


THE  STRATAGEM  OF  THEO- 
DOMIR. 

The  defeat  of  the  Guadalete  seemed  for  the  time 
to  have  robbed  the  Goths  of  all  their  ancient  courage. 
East  and  west,  north  and  south,  rode  the  Arab  horse- 
men, and  stronghold  after  stronghold  fell  almost 
without  resistance  into  their  hands,  until  nearly  the 
whole  of  Spain  had  surrendered  to  the  scimitar. 
History  has  but  a  few  stories  to  tell  of  valiant  de- 
fence by  the  Gothic  warriors.  One  was  that  of  Pe- 
listes,  at  Cordova,  which  we  have  just  told.  The 
other  was  that  of  the  wise  and  valorous  Theodomir, 
which  we  have  next  to  relate. 

Abdul-Aziz,  Musa's  noble  son,  whose  sad  fate  we 
have  chronicled,  had  been  given  the  control  of  South- 
ern Spain,  with  his  head- quarters  in  Seville.  Here, 
after  subduing  the  Comarca,  he  decided  on  an  in- 
vasion of  far-oif  Murcia,  the  garden-land  of  the 
south,  a  realm  of  tropic  heat,  yet  richly  fertile  and 
productive.  There  ruled  a  valiant  Goth  named  Theo- 
domir, who  had  resisted  Tarik  on  his  landing,  had 
fought  in  the  fatal  battle  in  which  Eoderic  fell,  and 
had  afterwards,  with  a  bare  remnant  of  his  followers, 
sought  his  own  territory,  which  after  him  was  called 
the  land  of  Tadmir. 

Hither  marched  Abdul-Aziz,  eager  to  meet  in  battle 
64 


THE  STRATAGEM  OP  THEODOMIR.        55 

a  warrior  of  such  renown,  and  to  add  to  his  domin- 
ions a  country  so  famed  for  beauty  and  fertihty. 
He  was  to  find  Theodomir  an  adversary  worthy  of 
his  utmost  powers.  So  small  was  the  force  of  the 
Gothic  lord  that  he  dared  not  meet  the  formidable 
Arab  horsemen  in  open  contest,  but  he  checked  their 
advance  by  all  the  arts  known  in  war,  occupying  the 
mountain  defiles  and  gorges  through  which  his 
country  must  be  reached,  cutting  off  detachments, 
and  making  the  approach  of  the  Arabs  difiicult  and 
dangerous. 

His  defence  was  not  confined  to  the  hills.  At 
times  he  would  charge  fiercely  on  detached  parties 
of  Arabs  in  the  valleys  or  plains,  and  be  off  again  to 
cover  before  the  main  force  could  come  up.  Long  he 
defeated  every  effort  of  the  Arab  leader  to  bring  on 
an  open  battle,  but  at  length  found  himself  cornered 
at  Lorca,  in  a  small  valley  at  a  mountain's  foot. 
Here,  though  the  Goths  fought  bravely,  they  found 
themselves  too  greatly  outnumbered,  and  in  the  end 
were  put  to  panic-flight,  numbers  of  them  being  left 
dead  on  the  hotly  contested  field. 

The  handful  of  fugitives,  sharply  pursued  by  the 
Moorish  cavalry,  rode  in  all  haste  to  the  fortified 
town  of  Orihuela,  a  place  of  such  strength  that  with 
sufficient  force  they  might  have  defied  there  the 
powerful  enemy.  But  such  had  been  their  losses  in 
battle  and  in  flight  that  Theodomir  found  himself 
far  too  weak  to  face  the  Moslem  host,  whose  ad- 
vance cavalry  had  followed  so  keenly  on  his  track  as 
to  reach  the  outer  walls  by  the  time  he  had  fairly 
closed  the  gates. 


56  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

Defence  was  impossible.  He  had  not  half  enough 
men  to  guard  the  walls  and  repel  assaults.  It  would 
have  been  folly  to  stand  a  siege,  yet  Theodomir  did 
not  care  to  surrender  except  on  favorable  terms,  and 
therefore  adopted  a  shrewd  stratagem  to  deceive  the 
enemy  in  regard  to  his  strength. 

To  the  surprise  of  the  Arab  leader  the  walls  of  the 
town,  which  he  had  thought  half  garrisoned,  seemed 
to  swarm  with  armed  and  bearded  warriors,  far  too 
great  a  force  to  be  overcome  by  a  sudden  dash.  In 
the  face  of  so  warlike  an  array,  caution  awoke  in 
the  hearts  of  the  assailants.  They  had  looked  for 
an  easy  victory,  but  against  such  numbers  xis  these 
assault  might  lead  to  severe  bloodshed  and  eventual 
defeat.  They  felt  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  pro- 
ceed by  the  slow  and  deliberate  methods  of  a  regu- 
lar siege. 

While  Abdul-Aziz  was  disposing  his  forces  and 
making  heedful  preparations  for  the  task  he  saw 
before  him,  he  was  surprised  to  see  the  principal 
gate  of  the  city  thrown  open  and  a  single  Gothic 
horseman  ride  forth,  bearing  a  flag  of  truce  and 
making  signals  for  a  parley.  A  safe-conduct  was 
given  him,  and  he  was  led  to  the  tent  of  the  Moslem 
chief 

"  Theodomir  has  sent  me  to  negotiate  with  you," 
he  said,  "  and  I  have  full  power  to  conclude  terms 
of  surrender.  We  are  abundantly  able  to  hold  out, 
as  you  may  see  by  the  forces  on  our  walls,  but  as  we 
wish  to  avoid  bloodshed  we  are  willing  to  submit  on 
honorable  terms.  Otherwise  we  will  defend  our- 
selves to  the  bitter  end." 


THE   STRATAGEM   OP   THEODOMIR.  57 

The  boldness  and  assurance  with  which  he  spoke 
deeply  impressed  the  Arab  chief.  This  was  not  a 
fearful  foe  seeking  for  mercy,  but  a  daring  antago- 
nist as  ready  to  fight  as  to  yield. 

"  What  terms  do  you  demand  ?"  asked  Abdul- Aziz. 

"  My  lord,"  answered  the  herald,  "  will  only  sur- 
render on  such  conditions  as  a  generous  enem}^ 
should  grant  and  a  valiant  people  receive.  He  de- 
mands peace  and  security  for  the  province  and  its 
people  and  such  authority  for  himself  as  the  strength 
of  his  walls  and  the  numbers  of  his  garrison  justify 
him  in  demanding." 

The  wise  and  clement  Arab  saw  the  strength  of 
the  argument,  and,  glad  to  obtain  so  rich  a  province 
without  further  loss  of  life,  he  assented  to  the  terms 
proposed,  bidding  the  envoy  to  return  and  present 
them  to  his  chief  The  Gothic  knight  replied  that 
there  was  no  need  of  this,  he  having  full  power  to 
sign  the  treaty.  The  terms  were  therefore  drawn 
up  and  signed  by  the  Arab  general,  after  which  the 
envoy  took  the  pen  and,  to  the  astonishment  of  the 
victor,  signed  the  name  of  Theodomir  at  the  foot  of 
the  document.     It  was  the  Gothic  chief  himself 

Pleased  alike  with  his  confidence  and  his  clever- 
ness, Abdul- Aziz  treated  the  Gothic  knight  with  the 
highest  honor  and  distinction.  At  the  dawn  of  the 
next  day  the  gates  of  the  city  were  thrown  open  for 
surrender,  and  Abdul- Aziz  entered  at  the  head  of  a 
suitable  force.  But  when  the  garrison  was  drawn 
up  in  the  centre  of  the  city  for  surrender,  the  sur- 
prise of  the  Moslem  became  deep  amazement.  What 
he  saw  before  him  was  a  mere  handful  of  stalwart 


58  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

soldiers,  eked  out  with  feeble  old  men  and  boys. 
But  the  main  body  before  him  was  composed  of 
women,  whom  the  astute  Goth  had  bidden  to  dress 
like  men  and  to  tie  their  long  hair  under  their  chins 
to  represent  beards;  when,  with  casques  on  their 
heads  and  spears  in  their  hands,  they  had  been  ranged 
along  the  walls,  looking  at  a  distance  like  a  line  of 
sturdy  warriors. 

Theodomir  waited  with  some  anxiety,  not  knowing 
how  the  victor  would  regard  this  stratagem.  Abdul 
might  well  have  viewed  with  anger  the  capitulation 
of  an  army  of  women  and  dotards,  but  he  had  a 
sense  of  humor  and  a  generous  heart,  and  the  smile 
of  amusement  on  his  face  told  the  Gothic  chief  that 
he  was  fully  forgiven  for  his  shrewd  stratagem. 
Admiration  was  stronger  than  mortification  in  the 
Moslem's  heart.  He  praised  Theodomir  for  his  witty 
and  successful  expedient,  and  for  the  three  days  that 
he  remained  at  Orihuela  banquets  and  fetes  marked 
his  stay,  he  occupying  the  position  of  a  guest  rather 
than  an  enemy.  No  injury  was  done  to  people  or 
town,  and  the  Arabs  soon  left  the  province  to  con- 
tinue their  career  of  conquest,  satisfied  with  the  ar- 
rangements for  tribute  which  they  had  made. 

By  a  strange  chance  the  treaty  of  surrender  of  the 
land  of  Tadmir  still  exists.  It  is  drawn  up  in  Latin 
and  in  Arabic,  and  is  of  much  interest  as  showing 
the  mode  in  which  such  things  were  managed  at  that 
remote  date.  It  stipulates  that  war  shall  not  be 
waged  against  Theodomir,  son  of  the  Goths,  and  his 
people ;  that  he  shall  not  be  deprived  of  his  kingdom ; 
that  the  Christians  shall  not  be  separated  from  their 


THE  STRATAGEM  OF  THEODOMIR.        59 

wives  and  children,  or  hindered  in  the  services  of 
their  religion;  and  that  their  temples  shall  not  be 
burned.  Theodomir  was  left  lord  of  seven  cities, — 
Orihuela,  Valencia,  Alicante,  Mula,  Biscaret,  Aspis, 
and  Lorca, — in  which  he  was  to  harbor  no  enemies 
of  the  Arabs. 

The  tribute  demanded  of  him  and  his  nobles  was  a 
dinar  (a  gold  coin)  yearly  from  each,  also  four  meas- 
ures each  of  wheat,  barley,  must,  vinegar,  honey,  and 
oil.  Yassals  and  taxable  people  were  to  pay  half 
this  amount. 

These  conditions  were  liberal  in  the  extreme.  The 
tribute  demanded  was  by  no  means  heavy  for  a 
country  so  fertile,  in  which  light  culture  yields 
abundant  harvests;  the  delightful  valley  between 
Orihuela  and  Murcia,  in  particular,  being  the  garden 
spot  of  Spain.  The  inhabitants  for  a  long  period 
escaped  the  evils  of  war  felt  in  other  parts  of  the 
conquered  territory,  their  province  being  occupied 
by  only  small  garrisons  of  the  enemy,  while  its  dis- 
tance from  the  chief  seat  of  war  removed  it  from 
danger. 

After  the  murder  of  Abdul- Aziz,  Theodomir  sent 
an  embassy  to  the  Caliph  Soliman,  begging  that  the 
treaty  should  be  respected.  The  caliph  in  reply  sent 
orders  that  its  stipulations  should  be  faithfully  ob- 
served. In  this  the  land  of  Tadmir  almost  stood 
alone  in  that  day,  when  treaties  were  usually  made 
only  to  be  set  at  naught. 


THE  CAVE   OF  COVADONGA, 


Tarik  landed  in  Spain  in  April,  711.  So  rapid 
were  the  Arabs  in  conquest  that  in  two  years  from 
that  date  nearly  the  whole  peninsula  was  in  their 
hands.  Not  quite  all,  or  history  might  have  another 
story  to  relate.  In  a  remote  province  of  the  once 
proud  kingdom — a  rugged  northwest  corner — a  few 
of  its  fugitive  sons  remained  in  freedom,  left  alone 
by  the  Arabs  partly  through  scorn,  partly  on  ac- 
count of  the  rude  and  difficult  character  of  their 
place  of  refuge.  The  conquerors  despised  them,  yet 
this  slender  group  was  to  form  the  basis  of  the  Spain 
we  know  to-day,  and  to  expand  and  spread  until  the 
conquerors  would  be  driven  from  Spanish  soil. 

The  Goths  had  fled  in  all  directions  from  their 
conquerors,  taking  with  them  such  of  their  valuables 
as  they  could  carry,  some  crossing  the  Pyrenees  to 
France,  some  hiding  in  the  mountain  valleys,  some 
seeking  a  place  of  refuge  in  the  Asturias,  a  rough 
hill  country  cut  up  in  all  directions  by  steep,  scarped 
rocks,  narrow  defiles,  deep  ravines,  and  tangled 
thickets.  Here  the  formidable  Moslem  cavalry  could 
not  pursue  them ;  here  no  army  could  deploy ;  here 
ten  men  might  defy  a  hundred.  The  place  was  far 
from  inviting  to  the  conquerors,  but  in  it  was  sown 
the  seed  of  modern  Spain. 

A  motley  crew  it  was  that  gathered  in  this  rugged 
60 


THE   CAVE   OP   COVADONGA.  61 

region,  a  medley  of  fugitives  of  all  ranks  and  sta- 
tions,— soldiers,  farmers,  and  artisans;  nobles  and 
vassals ;  bishops  and  monks ;  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren,— brought  together  by  a  terror  that  banished 
all  distinctions  of  rank  and  avocation.  For  a  number 
of  years  this  small  band  of  fugitive  Christians,  gath- 
ered between  the  mountains  and  the  sea  in  north- 
western Spain,  remained  quiet,  desiring  only  to  be 
overlooked  or  disregarded  by  the  conquerors.  But 
in  the  year  717  a  leader  came  to  them,  and  Spain 
once  morQ  lifted  her  head  in  defiance  of  her  in- 
vaders. 

Pelayo,  the  leader  named,  is  a  hero  shrouded  in 
mist.  Fable  surrounds  him;  a  circle  of  romantic 
stories  have  budded  from  his  name.  He  is  to  us 
like  his  modern  namesake,  the  one  battle-ship  of 
Spain,  which,  during  the  recent  war,  wandered  up 
and  down  the  Mediterranean  with  no  object  in  view 
that  any  foreigner  could  discover.  Of  the  original 
Pelayo,  some  who  profess  to  know  say  that  he  was 
of  the  highest  rank, — young,  handsome,  and  heroic, 
one  who  had  fought  under  Eoderic  at  the  Guada- 
lete,  had  been  held  by  the  Arabs  as  a  hostage  at 
Cordova,  and  had  escaped  to  his  native  hills,  there 
to  infuse  new  life  and  hope  into  the  hearts  of  the 
fugitive  group. 

Ibun  Hayyan,  an  Arabian  chronicler,  gives  the 
following  fanciful  account  of  Pelayo  and  his  feeble 
band.  "  The  commencement  of  the  rebellion  hap- 
pened thus :  there  remained  no  city,  town,  or  village 
in  Galicia  but  what  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Moslems 
with  the  exception  of  a  steep  mountain,  on  which 


62  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

this  Pelayo  took  refuge  with  a  handful  of  men. 
There  his  followers  went  on  dying  through  hunger 
until  he  saw  their  numbers  reduced  to  about  thirty 
men  and  ten  women,  having  no  other  food  for  sup- 
port than  the  honey  which  they  gathered  in  the 
crevices  of  the  rock,  which  they  themselves  inhab- 
ited like  so  many  bees.  However,  Pelayo  and  his 
men  fortified  themselves  by  degrees  in  the  passes 
of  the  mountain  until  the  Moslems  were  made  ac- 
quainted with  their  preparations;  but,  perceiving 
how  few  they  were,  they  heeded  not  the  advice  given 
to  them,  but  allowed  them  to  gather  strength,  say- 
ing, 'What  are  thirty  barbarians  perched  upon  a 
rock  ?    They  must  inevitably  die.'  " 

Die  they  did  not,  that  feeble  relic  of  Spain  on  the 
mountain-side,  though  long  their  only  care  was  for 
shelter  and  safety.  Here  Pelayo  cheered  them, 
doing  his  utmost  to  implant  new  courage  in  their 
fearful  hearts.  At  length  the  day  came  when  Spain 
could  again  assume  a  defiant  attitude,  and  in  the 
mountain  valley  of  Caggas  de  Onis  Pelayo  raised 
the  old  Gothic  standard  and  ordered  the  beating  of 
the  drums.  Beyond  the  sound  of  the  long  roll  went 
his  messengers  seeking  warriors  in  valley  and  glen, 
and  soon  his  little  band  had  grown  to  a  thousand 
stalwart  men,  filled  with  his  spirit  and  breathing 
defiance  to  the  Moslem  conquerors.  That  was  an 
eventful  day  for  Spain,  in  which  her  crushed  people 
again  lifted  their  heads. 

It  was  a  varied  throng  that  gathered  around  Pe- 
layo's  banner.  Sons  of  the  Goths  and  the  Eomans 
were  mingled  with  descendants  of  the  more  ancient 


THE   CAVE   OP   COVADONQA.  63 

Celts  and  Iberians.  Eepresentatives  of  all  the  races 
that  had  overrun  Spain  were  there  gathered,  speak- 
ing a  dozen  dialects,  yet  instinct  with  a  single  spirit. 
From  them  the  modern  Spaniard  was  to  come,  no 
longer  Gothic  or  Koman,  but  a  descendant  of  all  the 
tribes  and  races  that  had  peopled  Spain.  Some  of 
them  carried  the  swords  and  shields  they  had  wielded 
in  the  battle  of  the  Guadalete,  others  brought  the 
rude  weapons  of  the  mountaineers.  But  among 
them  were  strong  hands  and  stout  hearts,  summoned 
by  the  drums  of  Pelayo  to  the  reconquest  of  Spain. 

Word  soon  came  to  Al  Horr,  the  new  emir  of 
Spain,  that  a  handful  of  Christians  were  in  arms  in 
the  mountains  of  the  northwest,  and  he  took  instant 
steps  to  crush  this  presumptuous  gathering,  sending 
his  trusty  general  Al  Kamah  with  a  force  that 
seemed  abundant  to  destroy  Pelayo  and  his  rebel 
band. 

Warning  of  the  approach  of  the  Moslem  foe  was 
quickly  brought  to  the  Spanish  leader,  who  at  once 
left  his  place  of  assembly  for  the  cave  of  Covadonga, 
a  natural  fortress  in  Eastern  Asturia,  some  five  miles 
from  Caggas  de  Onis,  which  he  had  selected  as  a 
place  strikingly  adapted  to  a  defensive  stand.  Here 
rise  three  mountain-peaks  to  a  height  of  nearly  four 
thousand  feet,  enclosing  a  small  circular  valley, 
across  which  rushes  the  swift  Diva,  a  stream  issuing 
from  Mount  Orandi.  At  the  base  of  Mount  Auseva, 
the  western  peak,  rises  a  detached  rock,  one  hundred 
and  seventy  feet  high,  projecting  from  the  mountain 
in  the  form  of  an  arch.  At  a  short  distance  above 
its  foot  is  visible  the  celebrated  cave  or  grotto  of 


64  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

Covadonga,  an  opening  forty  feet  wide,  twelve  feet 
high,  and  extending  twenty-five  feet  into  the  rock. 

The  river  sweeps  out  through  a  narrow  and  rocky 
defile,  at  whose  narrowest  part  the  banks  rise  in  pre- 
cipitous walls.  Down  this  ravine  the  stream  rushes 
in  rapids  and  cascades,  at  one  point  forming  a  pic- 
turesque waterfall  seventy-five  feet  in  height.  Only 
through  this  straitened  path  can  the  cave  be  reached, 
and  this  narrow  ravine  and  the  valley  within  Pelayo 
proposed  to  hold  with  his  slender  and  ill-armed 
force. 

Proudly  onward  came  the  Moslem  captain,  full  of 
confidence  in  his  powerful  force  and  despising  his 
handful  of  opponents.  Pelayo  drew  him  on  into 
the  narrow  river  passage  by  a  clever  stratagem. 
He  had  posted  a  small  force  at  the  mouth  of  the 
pass,  bidding  them  to  take  to  flight  after  a  discharge 
of  arrows.  His  plan  worked  well,  the  seeming  re- 
treat giving  assurance  to  the  Moslems,  who  rushed 
forward  in  pursuit  along  the  narrow  ledge  that  bor- 
ders the  Diva,  and  soon  emerged  into  the  broader 
path  that  opens  into  the  valley  of  Covadonga. 

They  had  incautiously  entered  a  cul-de-sac,  in 
which  their  numbers  were  of  no  avail,  and  where  a 
handful  of  men  could  hold  an  army  at  bay.  A 
small  body  of  the  best  armed  of  the  Spaniards  oc- 
cupied the  cave,  the  others  being  placed  in  ambush 
among  the  chestnut-trees  that  covered  the  heights 
above  the  Diva.  All  kept  silent  until  the  Moslem  ad- 
vance had  emerged  into  the  valley.  Then  the  battle 
began,  one  of  the  most  famous  conflicts  in  the  whole 
history  of  Spain,  famous  not  for  the  numbers  en- 


THE  CAVE   OP  COVADONGA.  65 

gaged,  but  for  the  issue  involved.  The  future  of 
Spain  dwelt  in  the  hands  of  that  group  of  patriots. 
The  fight  in  the  valley  was  sharp,  but  one-sided. 
The  Moslem  arrows  rebounded  harmlessly  from  the 
rocky  sides  of  the  cave,  whose  entrance  could  be 
reached  only  by  a  ladder,  while  the  Christians,  hurl- 
ing their  missiles  from  their  point  of  vantage  into 
the  crowded  mass  below,  punished  them  so  severely 
that  the  advance  was  forced  back  upon  those  that 
crowded  the  defile  in  the  rear.  Al  Kamah,  finding 
his  army  recoiling  in  dismay  and  confusion,  and  dis- 
covering too  late  his  error,  ordered  a  retreat ;  but  no 
sooner  had  a  reverse  movement  been  instituted  than 
the  ambushed  Christians  on  the  heights  began  their 
deadly  work,  hurling  huge  stones  and  fallen  trees 
into  the  defile,  kiUing  the  Moslems  by  hundreds,  and 
choking  up  the  pass  until  flight  became  impossible. 

The  panic  was  complete.  From  every  side  the 
Christians  rushed  upon  the  foe.  Pelayo,  bearing  a 
cross  of  oak  and  crying  that  the  Lord  was  fighting 
for  his  people,  leaped  downward  from  the  cave,  fol- 
lowed by  his  men,  who  fell  with  irresistible  fury 
on  the  foe,  forcing  them  backward  under  the  brow 
of  Mount  Auseva,  where  Al  Kamah  strove  to  make 
a  stand. 

The  elements  now  came  to  the  aid  of  the  Christians, 
a  furious  storm  arising  whose  thunders  reverberated 
among  the  rocks,  while  lightnings  flashed  luridly  in 
the  eyes  of  the  terrified  troops.  The  rain  poured 
in  blinding  torrents,  and  soon  the  Diva,  swollen  with 
the  sudden  fall,  rose  into  a  flood,  and  swept  away 
many  of  those  who  were  crowded  on  its  slippery 


66  HISTORICAL    TALES. 

banks.  The  heavens  seemed  leagued  with  the 
Christians  against  the  Moslem  host,  whose  de- 
struction was  so  thorough  that,  if  we  can  credit  the 
chronicles,  not  a  man  of  the  proud  army  escaped. 

This  is  doubtless  an  exaggeration,  but  the  victory 
of  Pelayo  was  complete  and  the  first  great  step  in 
the  reconquest  of  Spain  was  taken.  The  year  was 
717,  six  years  after  the  landing  of  the  Arabs  and  the 
defeat  of  the  Goths. 

Thus  ended  perhaps  the  most  decisive  battle  in 
the  history  of  Spain.  With  it  new  Spain  began.  The 
cave  of  Covadonga  is  still  a  place  of  pilgrimage  for 
the  Spanish  patriot,  a  stairway  of  marble  replacing 
the  ladder  used  by  Pelayo  and  his  men.  We  may 
tell  what  followed  in  a  few  words.  Their  terrible 
defeat  cleared  the  territory  of  the  Austurias  of 
Moslem  soldiers.  From  every  side  fugitive  Chris- 
tians left  their  mountain  retreats  to  seek  the  standard 
of  Pelayo.  Soon  the  patriotic  and  daring  leader  had 
an  army  under  his  command,  by  whom  he  was  chosen 
king  of  Christian  Spain. 

The  Moslems  made  no  further  attack.  They  were 
discouraged  by  their  defeat  and  were  engaged  in  a 
project  for  the  invasion  of  Gaul  that  required  their 
utmost  force.  Pelayo  slowly  and  cautiously  extended 
his  dominions,  descending  from  the  mountains  into 
the  plains  and  valleys,  and  organizing  his  new  king- 
dom in  civil  as  well  as  in  military  affairs.  All  the 
men  under  his  control  were  taught  to  bear  arms, 
fortifications  were  built,  the  ground  was  planted,  and 
industry  revived.  Territory  which  the  Moslems  had 
abandoned  was  occupied,  and  from  a  group  of  sol« 


BARONIAL  CASTLE  IN  OLD  CASTILE. 


THE   CAVE   OF   COVADONGA.  67 

diers  in  a  mountain  cavern  a  new  nation  began  to 
emerge. 

Pelayo  died  at  Caggas  de  Onis  in  the  year  737) 
twenty  years  after  his  great  victory.  After  his 
death  the  work  he  had  begun  was  carried  forward, 
until  by  the  year  800  the  Spanish  dominion  had  ex- 
tended over  much  of  Old  Castile, — so  called  from  its 
numerous  castles.  In  a  hundred  years  more  it  had 
extended  to  the  borders  of  New  Castile.  The  work 
of  reconquest  was  slowly  but  surely  under  way. 


THE  ADVENTURES    OF  A   FUGI^ 
TIVE  PRINCE. 

A  NEW  dynasty  came  to  the  throne  of  the  caliphs 
of  Damascus  in  750.  The  line  of  the  Ommeyades, 
who  had  held  the  throne  since  the  days  of  the 
Prophet  Mohammed,  was  overthrown,  and  the  line  of 
the  Abbassides  began.  Abdullah,  the  new  caliph,  bent 
on  destroying  every  remnant  of  the  old  dynasty,  in- 
vited ninety  of  its  principal  adherents  to  a  banquet, 
where  they  were  set  upon  and  brutally  murdered. 
There  followed  a  scene  worthy  of  a  savage.  The 
tables  were  removed,  carpets  were  spread  over  the 
bleeding  corpses,  and  on  these  the  viands  were  placed, 
the  guests  eating  their  dinner  to  the  dismal  music  of 
the  groans  of  the  dying  victims  beneath. 

The  whole  country  was  now  scoured  for  all  who 
were  connected  with  the  fallen  dynasty,  and  wherever 
found  they  were  brutally  slain ;  yet  despite  the  vigi- 
lance of  the  murderers  a  scion  of  the  family  of  the 
Ommeyades  escaped.  Abdurrahman,  the  princely 
youth  in  question,  was  fortunately  absent  from  Da- 
mascus when  the  order  for  his  assassination  was 
given.  Warned  of  his  proposed  fate,  he  gathered 
what  money  and  jewels  he  could  and  fled  for  his  life, 
following  little-used  paths  until  he  reached  the  banks 
of  the  Euphrates.     But  spies  were  on  his  track  and 


THE   ADVENTURES   OF  A   FUGITIVE   PRINCE.         69 

descriptions  of  him  had  been  sent  to  all  provinces. 
He  was  just  twenty  years  old,  and,  unlike  the  Ara- 
bians in  general,  had  a  fair  complexion  and  blue  eyes, 
so  that  he  could  easily  be  recognized,  and  it  seemed 
impossible  that  he  could  escape. 

His  retreat  on  the  Euphrates  was  quickly  dis- 
covered, and  the  agents  of  murder  were  so  hot  upon 
his  track  that  he  was  forced  to  spring  into  the  river 
and  seek  for  safety  by  swimming.  The  pursuers 
reached  the  banks  when  the  fugitives  were  nearly 
half-way  across,  Abdurrahman  supporting  his  son, 
four  years  of  age,  and  Bedr,  a  servant,  aiding  his 
thirteen-year-old  brother.  The  agents  of  the  caliph 
called  them  back,  saying  that  they  would  not  harm 
them,  and  the  boy,  whose  strength  was  giving  out, 
turned  back  in  spite  of  his  brother's  warning.  When 
Abdurrahman  reached  the  opposite  bank,  it  was 
with  a  shudder  of  horror  that  he  saw  the  murder 
of  the  boy,  whose  head  was  at  once  cut  off.  That 
gruesome  spectacle  decided  the  question  of  his 
trusting  himself  to  the  mercy  of  the  caliph  or  his 
agents. 

The  life  of  the  fugitive  prince  now  became  one 
of  unceasing  adventure.  He  made  his  way  by  covert 
paths  towards  Egypt,  wandering  through  the  desert 
in  company  with  bands  of  Bedouins,  Hving  on  their 
scanty  fare,  and  constantly  on  the  alert  against  sur- 
prise. Light  sleep  and  hasty  Sittings  were  the  rule 
with  him  and  his  few  attendants  as  they  made  their 
way  slowly  westward  over  the  barren  sands,  finally 
reaching  Egypt.  Here  he  was  too  near  the  caliph 
for  safety,  and  he  kept  on  westward  to  Barca,  where 


70  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

he  hoped  for  protection  from  the  governor,  who 
owed  his  fortunes  to  the  favor  of  the  late  caliph. 

He  was  mistaken.  Ibn  Habib,  the  governor  of 
Barca,  put  self-interest  above  gratitude,  and  made 
vigorous  efforts  to  seize  the  fugitive,  whom  he  hoped 
to  send  as  a  welcome  gift  to  the  cruel  Abdullah. 
The  life  of  the  fugitive  was  now  one  of  hair-breadth 
escapes.  For  five  years  he  remained  in  Barca,  dis- 
guised and  under  a  false  name,  yet  in  almost  daily 
peril  of  his  life.  On  one  occasion  a  band  of  pur- 
suers surrounded  the  tent  in  which  he  was  and  ad- 
vanced to  search  it.  His  life  was  saved  by  Tekfah, 
the  wife  of  the  chief,  who  hid  him  under  her  clothes. 
When,  in  later  years,  he  came  to  power,  he  rewarded 
the  chief  and  his  wife  richly  for  their  kindly 
aid. 

On  another  occasion  a  body  of  horse  rode  into  the 
village  of  tents  in  which  he  dwelt  as  a  guest  and 
demanded  that  he  should  be  given  up.  The  hand- 
some aspect  and  gentle  manner  of  the  fugitive  had 
made  the  tribesmen  suspect  that  they  were  the  hosts 
of  a  disguised  prince  ;  he  had  gained  a  sure  place  in 
their  hearts,  and  they  set  the  pursuers  on  a  false 
scent.  Such  a  person  was  with  them,  they  said,  but 
he  had  gone  with  a  number  of  young  men  on  a  lion 
hunt  in  a  neighboring  mountain  valley  and  would 
not  return  until  the  next  evening.  The  pursuers  at 
once  set  off  for  the  place  mentioned,  and  the  fugi- 
tive, who  had  been  hidden  in  one  of  the  tents,  rode 
away  in  the  opposite  direction  with  his  slender 
train. 

Leaving  Barca,  he  journeyed  farther  westward 


THE  ADVENTURES  OP  A  PlTGITIVE  PRINCE.         71 

over  the  desert,  which  at  that  point  comes  down  to 
the  Mediterranean.  Finally  Tahart  was  reached,  a 
town  within  the  modern  Algeria,  the  seat  of  the 
Beni  Eustam,  a  tribe  which  gave  him  the  kindliest 
welcome.  To  them,  as  to  the  Barcans,  he  seemed 
a  prince  in  disguise.  I^ear  by  was  a  tribe  of  Arabs 
named  the  Nefezah,  to  which  his  mother  had  be- 
longed, and  from  which  he  hoped  for  protection  and 
assistance.  Eeaching  this,  he  told  his  rank  and 
name,  and  was  welcomed  almost  as  a  king,  the 
tribesmen,  his  mother's  kindred,  pajang  him  homage, 
and  offering  their  aid  to  the  extent  of  their  ability 
in  the  ambitious  scheme  which  he  disclosed. 

This  was  an  invasion  of  Spain,  which  at  that  time 
was  a  scene  of  confusion  and  turmoil,  distracted  by 
rival  leaders,  the  people  exhausted  by  wars  and 
quarrels,  many  of  their  towns  burned  or  ruined,  and 
the  country  ravaged  by  famine.  What  could  be 
better  than  for  the  heir  of  the  illustrious  house  of 
Ommeyades,  flying  from  persecution  by  the  Abbas- 
sides,  and  miraculously  preserved,  to  seek  the  throne 
of  Spain,  bring  peace  to  that  distracted  land,  and 
found  an  independent  kingdom  in  that  western  sec- 
tion of  the  vast  Arabian  empire  ? 

His  servant,  Bedr,  who  had  kept  with  him  through 
all  his  varied  career  and  was  now  his  chief  officer, 
was  sent  to  Spain  on  a  secret  mission  to  the  friends 
of  the  late  dynasty  of  caliphs,  of  whom  there  were 
many  in  that  land.  Bedr  was  highly  successful  in 
his  mission.  Yusuf,  the  Abbasside  emir,  was  absent 
from  Cordova  and  ignorant  of  his  danger,  and  all 
promised   well.      Not   waiting    for    the    assistance 


72  filSTORICAL  TALES. 

promised  him  in  Africa,  the  prince  put  to  sea  almost 
alone.  As  he  was  about  to  step  on  board  his  boat 
a  number  of  Berbers  gathered  round  and  showed 
an  intention  to  prevent  his  departure.  They  were 
quieted  by  a  handful  of  dinars  and  he  hastened  on 
board, — none  too  soon,  for  another  band,  greedy  for 
gold,  rushed  to  the  beach,  some  of  them  wading  out 
and  seizing  the  boat  and  the  camefs-hair  cable  that 
held  it  to  the  anchor.  These  fellows  got  blows  in- 
stead of  dinars,  one,  who  would  not  let  go,  having 
his  hand  cut  off  by  a  sword  stroke.  The  edge  of  a 
scimitar  cut  the  cable,  the  sail  was  set,  and  the 
lonely  exile  set  forth  upon  the  sea  to  the  conquest 
of  a  kingdom.  It  was  evening  of  a  spring  day  of 
the  year  756  that  the  fugitive  prince  landed  near 
Malaga,  in  the  land  of  Andalusia,  where  some  promi- 
nent chiefs  were  in  waiting  to  receive  him  with  the 
homage  due  to  a  king. 

Hundreds  soon  flocked  to  the  standard  of  the  ad- 
venturer, whose  manly  and  handsome  presence,  his 
beaming  blue  eyes,  sweet  smile,  and  gracious  manner 
won  him  the  friendship  of  all  whom  he  met.  With 
steadily  growing  forces  he  marched  to  Seville.  Here 
were  many  of  his  partisans,  and  the  people  flung 
open  the  gates  with  wild  shouts  of  welcome.  It  was 
in  the  month  of  May  that  the  fortunes  of  Abdurrah- 
man were  put  to  the  test,  Yusuf  having  hastily  gath- 
ered a  powerful  force  and  advanced  to  the  plain  of 
Musarah,  near  Cordova,  on  which  field  the  fate  of 
the  kingdom  was  to  be  decided. 

It  was  under  a  strange  banner  that  Abdurrahman 
advanced  to  meet  the  army  of  the  emir, — a  turban 


tria[E  ADVENTlJRES   Oi'  A   PUGltlVE   PRINCE.          7^ 

attached  to  a  lance-head.  This  standard  afterwards 
became  sacred,  the  turban,  as  it  grew  ragged,  being 
covered  by  a  new  one.  At  length  the  hallowed  old 
rags  were  removed  by  an  irreverent  hand,  "and 
from  that  time  the  empire  of  the  Beni  Ummeyah 
began  to  decline." 

We  may  briefly  conclude  our  tale.  The  battle 
was  fierce,  but  Abdurrahman's  boldness  and  courage 
prevailed,  and  the  army  of  Yusuf  in  the  end  gave 
way,  Cordova  becoming  the  victor's  prize.  The 
generous  conqueror  gave  liberty  and  distinction  to 
the  defeated  emir,  and  was  repaid  in  two  years  by 
a  rebellion  in  which  he  had  an  army  of  twenty  thou- 
sand men  to  meet.  Yusuf  was  again  defeated,  and 
now  lost  his  life. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  fugitive  prince,  who  had 
saved  his  life  by  swimming  the  Euphrates  under  the 
eyes  of  an  assassin  band,  became  the  Caliph  of  the 
West,  for  under  him  Spain  was  cut  loose  from  the 
dominion  of  the  Abbassides  and  made  an  independent 
kingdom,  its  conqueror  becoming  its  first  monarch 
under  the  title  of  Abdurrahman  I. 

Almansur,  then  the  Caliph  of  the  East,  sought  to 
recover  the  lost  domain,  sending  a  large  army  from 
Africa ;  but  this  was  defeated  with  terrible  slaughter 
by  the  impetuous  young  prince,  who  revenged  him- 
self by  sending  the  heads  of  the  general  and  many 
of  his  officers  to  the  caliph  in  bags  borne  by  mer- 
chants, which  were  deposited  at  the  door  of  Alman- 
sur's  tent  during  the  darkness  of  the  night.  The 
finder  was  cautioned  to  be  careful,  as  the  bags  con- 
tained treasure.     So  they  were  brought  in  to  the 


74  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

caliph,  who  opened  them  with  his  own  hand.  Great 
was  his  fury  and  chagrin  when  he  saw  what  a 
ghastly  treasure  they  contained.  "  This  man  is  the 
foul  fiend  in  human  form,"  he  exclaimed.  "  Praised 
be  Allah  that  he  has  placed  a  sea  between  him  and 
me. 


BERNARDO    DEL    CARPI O. 


Spain,  like  France,  had  its  hero  of  legend.  The 
great  French  hero  was  Eoland,  whose  mighty  deeds 
in  the  pass  of  Eoncesvalles  have  been  widely  com- 
memorated in  song  and  story.  In  Spanish  legend 
the  gallant  opponent  of  the  champion  of  France  was 
Bernardo  del  Carpio,  a  hero  who  perhaps  never 
lived,  except  on  paper,  but  about  whose  name  a 
stirring  cycle  of  story  has  grown.  The  tale  of  his 
life  is  a  tragedy,  as  that  of  heroes  is  apt  to  be.  It 
may  be  briefly  told. 

When  Charlemagne  was  on  the  throne  of  France 
Alfonso  II.  was  king  of  Christian  Spain.  A  hundred 
years  had  passed  since  all  that  was  left  to  Spain  was 
the  cave  of  Covadonga,  and  in  that  time  a  small 
kingdom  had  grown  up  with  Oviedo  for  its  capital 
city.  This  kingdom  had  spread  from  the  Asturias 
over  Leon,  which  gave  its  name  to  the  new  realm, 
and  the  slow  work  of  driving  back  the  Moslem  con- 
querors had  well  begun. 

Alfonso  never  married  and  had  no  children. 
People  called  him  Alfonso  the  Chaste.  He  went  so 
far  as  to  forbid  any  of  his  family  to  marry,  so  that 
the  love  aifairs  of  his  sister,  the  fair  infanta  Ximena, 
ran  far  from  smooth.  The  beautiful  princess  loved 
and  was  loved  again  by  the  noble  Sancho  Diaz,  Count 
of  Saldaiia,  but  the  king  would  not  listen  to  their 

76 


16  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

union.  The  natural  result  followed ;  as  they  dared 
not  marry  in  public  they  did  so  in  private,  and  for 
a  year  or  two  Kved  happily  together,  none  knowing 
of  their  marriage,  and  least  of  all  the  king. 

But  when  a  son  was  born  to  them  the  truth  came 
out.  It  threw  the  tyrannical  king  into  a  violent 
rage.  His  sister  was  seized  by  his  orders  and  shut 
up  in  a  convent,  and  her  husband  was  thrown  into 
prison  for  life,  some  accounts  saying  that  his  eyes 
were  put  out  by  order  of  the  cruel  king.  As  for 
their  infant  son,  he  was  sent  into  the  mountains  of 
the  Asturlas,  to  be  brought  up  among  peasants  and 
mountaineers. 

It  was  known  that  he  had  been  sent  there  by  Al- 
fonso, and  the  people  believed  him  to  be  the  king's 
son  and  treated  him  as  a  prince.  In  the  healthy 
out-door  life  of  the  hills  he  grew  strong  and  hand- 
some, while  his  native  courage  was  shown  in  hunt- 
ing adventures  and  the  perils  of  mountain  life. 
When  old  enough  he  learned  the  use  of  arms,  and 
soon  left  his  humble  friends  for  the  army,  in  which 
his  boldness  and  bravery  were  shown  in  many  en- 
counters with  the  French  and  the  Arabs.  Those 
about  him  still  supposed  him  to  be  the  son  of  the 
king,  though  Alfonso,  while  furnishing  him  with  all 
knightly  arms  and  needs,  neither  acknowledged  nor 
treated  him  as  his  son.  But  if  not  a  king's  son,  he 
was  a  very  valiant  knight,  and  became  the  terror  of 
all  the  foes  of  Spain. 

All  this  time  his  unfortunate  father  languished  in 
prison,  where  from  time  to  time  he  was  told  by  his 
keepers  of  the  mighty  deeds  of  the  young  prince 


BERNARDO  DEL   CARPIO.  77 

Bernardo  del  Carpio,  by  which  liame  the  youthful 
warrior  was  known.  Count  Sancho  knew  well  that 
this  was  his  son,  and  complained  bitterly  of  the 
ingratitude  of  the  youth  who  could  leave  his  father 
perishing  in  a  prison  cell  while  he  rode  freely  and 
joyously  in  the  open  air,  engaged  in  battle  and  ban- 
quet, and  was  everywhere  admired  and  praised.  He 
knew  not  that  the  young  warrior  had  been  kept  in 
ignorance  of  his  birth. 

During  this  period  came  that  great  event  in  the 
early  history  of  Spain  in  which  Charlemagne  crossed 
the  Pyrenees  with  a  great  army  and  marched  upon 
the  city  of  Saragossa.  It  was  in  the  return  from 
this  expedition  that  the  dreadful  attack  took  place 
in  which  Eoland  and  the  rear  guard  of  the  army 
were  slain  in  the  pass  of  Eoncesvalles.  In  Spanish 
story  it  was  Bernardo  del  Carpio  who  led  the  victo- 
rious hosts,  and  to  whose  prowess  was  due  the  signal 
success. 

This  fierce  fight  in  a  mountain-pass,  in  which  a 
valiant  band  of  mountaineers  overwhelmed  and  de- 
stroyed the  flower  of  the  French  army,  has  been  ex- 
alted by  poetic  legend  into  one  of  the  most  stupen- 
dous and  romantic  of  events.  Ponderous  epic  poems 
have  made  Eoland  their  theme,  numbers  of  ballads 
and  romances  tell  of  his  exploits,  and  the  far-off 
echoes  of  his  ivory  horn  still  sound  through  the  cen- 
turies. One  account  tells  that  he  blew  his  horn  so 
loud  and  long  that  the  veins  of  his  neck  burst  in  the 
strain.  Others  tell  that  he  split  a  mountain  in  twain 
by  a  mighty  stroke  of  his  sword  Durandal.  The 
print  of  his  horse's  hoofs  are  shown  on  a  mountain- 


78  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

peak  where  only  a  flying  horse  could  ever  have 
stood.  In  truth,  Eoland,  whose  name  is  barely  men- 
tioned in  history,  rose  to  be  the  greatest  hero  of 
romance,  the  choicest  and  best  of  the  twelve  pala- 
dins of  Charlemagne. 

Bernardo  del  Carpio  was  similarly  celebrated  in 
Spanish  song,  though  he  attained  no  such  world- 
wide fame.  History  does  not  name  him  at  all,  but 
the  ballads  of  Spain  say  much  of  his  warlike  deeds. 
It  must  suffice  here  to  say  that  this  doughty  champion 
marched  upon  Eoland  and  his  men  while  they  were 
winding  through  the  narrow  mountain-pass,  and  as 
they  advanced  the  mountaineers  swelled  their  ranks. 

"As  through  the  glen  his  spears  did  gleam,  the  soldiers  from 
the  hills, 

They  swelled  his  host,  as  mountain-stream  receives  the 
roaring  rills ; 

They  round  his  banner  flocked  in  scorn  of  haughty  Charle- 
magne, 

And  thus  upon  their  swords  are  sworn  the  faithful  sons  of 
Spain." 

Roland  and  his  force  lay  silent  in  death  when  the 
valiant  prince  led  back  his  army,  flushed  with  vic- 
tory, and  hailed  with  the  plaudits  of  all  the  people 
of  the  land.  At  this  moment  of  his  highest  triumph 
the  tragedy  of  his  life  began.  His  old  nurse,  who 
had  feared  before  to  tell  the  tale,  now  made  him  ac- 
quainted with  the  true  story  of  his  birth,  telling  him 
that  he  was  the  nephew,  not  the  son,  of  the  king ;  that 
his  mother,  whom  he  thought  long  dead,  still  lived, 
shut  up  for  life  in  a  convent ;  and  that  his  father  lay 
languishing  in  a  dungeon  cell,  blind  and  in  chains. 


BERNARDO   DEL   CARPIO.  79 

As  may  well  be  imagined,  this  story  filled  the  soul 
of  the  young  hero  with  righteous  wrath.  He  strode 
into  the  presence  of  the  king  and  asked,  with  little 
reverence,  if  the  story  were  true.  Alfonso  surlily 
admitted  it.  Bernardo  then  demanded  his  father's 
freedom.  This  the  king  refused.  Burning  with 
anger,  the  valiant  youth  shut  himself  up  in  his  cas- 
tle, refusing  to  take  part  in  the  rejoicings  that  fol- 
lowed the  victory,  and  still  sternly  demanding  the 
release  of  bis  father. 

"  Is  it  well  that  I  should  be  abroad  fighting  thy 
battles,"  he  asked  the  king,  ''while  my  father  hes 
fettered  in  thy  dungeons  ?  Set  him  free  and  I  shall 
ask  no  further  reward." 

Alfonso,  who  was  obstinate  in  his  cruelty,  refused, 
and  the  indignant  prince  took  arms  against  him, 
joining  the  Moors,  whom  he  aided  to  harry  the 
king's  dominions.  Fortifying  his  castle,  and  gather- 
ing a  bold  and  daring  band  from  his  late  followers, 
he  made  incursions  deep  into  the  country  of  the 
king,  plundering  hamlet  and  city  and  fighting  in  the 
ranks  of  the  Moslems. 

This  method  of  argument  was  too  forcible  even 
for  the  obstinacy  of  Alfonso.  His  counsellors,  find- 
ing the  kingdom  itself  in  danger,  urged  him  to  grant 
Bernardo's  request,  and  to  yield  him  his  father  in 
return  for  his  castle.  The  king  at  length  consented, 
and  Bernardo,  as  generous  and  trusting  as  he  was 
brave,  immediately  accepted  the  proposed  exchange, 
sought  the  king,  handed  him  the  keys  of  his  castle, 
and  asked  him  to  fulfil  his  share  of  the  contract. 

Alfonso  agreed  to  do  so,  and  in  a  short  time  the 


80  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

king  and  his  nephew  rode  forth,  Bernardo's  heart 
full  of  joy  at  the  thought  of  meeting  the  parent 
whom  he  had  never  yet  seen.  As  they  rode  forward 
a  train  came  from  the  opposite  direction  to  meet 
them,  in  the  midst  a  tall  figure,  clad  in  splendid 
attire  and  mounted  on  horseback.  But  there  was 
something  in  his  aspect  that  struck  Bernardo's  heart 
deep  with  dread. 

"  God  help  me !"  he  exclaimed,  "  is  that  sightless 
and  corpse-like  figure  the  noble  Count  of  Saldana, 
my  father?" 

"You  wished  to  see  him,"  coldly  answered  the 
king.     "  He  is  before  you.     Go  and  greet  him." 

Bernardo  did  so,  and  reverently  took  the  cold 
hand  of  his  father  to  kiss  it.  As  he  did  so  the  body 
fell  forward  on  the  neck  of  the  horse.  It  was  only 
a  corpse.  Alfonso  had  killed  the  father  before  de- 
livering him  to  his  son. 

Only  his  guards  saved  the  ruthless  tyrant  at  that 
moment  from  death.  The  infuriated  knight  swore 
a  fearful  oath  of  vengeance  upon  the  king,  and  rode 
away,  taking  the  revered  corpse  with  him.  Unfor- 
tunately, the  story  of  Bernardo  ends  here.  None 
of  the  ballads  tell  what  he  did  for  revenge.  We 
may  imagine  that  he  joined  his  power  to  the  Moors 
and  harried  the  land  of  Leon  during  his  after  life, 
at  length  reaching  Alfonso's  heart  with  his  vengeful 
blade.  But  of  this  neither  ballad  nor  legend  tells, 
and  with  the  pathetic  scene  of  the  dead  father's  re- 
lease our  story  ends. 


RUYDIAZ,  THE  CID  CAMPEADOR. 

Bernardo  del  Carpio  is  not  the  chief  Spanish 
hero  of  romance.  To  find  the  mate  of  Roland  the 
paladin  we  must  seek  the  incomparable  Cid,  the 
campeador  or  champion  of  Spain,  the  noblest  figure 
in  Spanish  story  or  romance.  ElMio  Cid,  "  My  Cid,'* 
as  he  is  called,  wilh  his  matchless  horse  Bavieca  and 
his  trenchant  sword  Tisona,  towers  in  Spanish  tale 
far  above  Christian  king  and  Moslem  caliph,  as  the 
pink  of  chivalry,  the  pearl  of  knighthood,  the  noblest 
and  worthiest  figure  in  all  that  stirring  age. 

Cid  is  an  Arabic  word,  meaning  "  lord"  or  "  chief." 
The  man  to  whom  it  was  applied  was  a  real  person- 
age, not  a  figment  of  fancy,  though  it  is  to  poetry 
and  romance  that  he  owes  his  fame,  his  story  having 
been  expanded  and  embellished  in  chronicles,  epic 
poems,  and  ballads  until  it  bears  little  semblance  to 
actual  history.  Yet  the  deeds  of  the  man  himself 
probably  lie  at  the  basis  of  all  the  splendid  fictions 
of  romance. 

The  great  poem  in  which  his  exploits  were  first 
celebrated,  the  famous  "Poema  del  Cid,"  is  thought 
to  be  the  oldest,  as  it  is  one  of  the  noblest  in  the 
Spanish  language.  Written  probably  not  later  than 
the  year  1200,  it  is  of  about  three  thousand  lines  in 
length,  and  of  such  merit  that  its  unknown  author 
has  been  designated  the  "  Homer  of  Spain."     As  it 

6  81 


82  HISTORICAL    TALES. 

was  written  soon  after  the  death  of  the  Cid,  it  could 
not  have  deviated  far  from  historic  truth.  Chief 
among  the  prose  works  is  the  "  Chronicle  of  the 
Cid," — Chronica  del  famoso  Cavalier o  Cid  Buy  Diez^ — 
which,  with  additions  from  the  poem,  was  charm- 
ingly rendered  in  English  by  the  poet  South ey,  whose 
production  is  a  prose  poem  in  itself.  Such  are  the 
chief  sources  of  our  knowledge  of  the  Cid,  an  active, 
stirring  figure,  full  of  the  spirit  of  medisevalism, 
whose  story  seems  to  bring  back  to  us  the  living 
features  of  the  age  in  which  he  flourished.  A  brave 
and  daring  knight,  rousing  the  jealousy  of  nobles 
and  kings  by  his  valiant  deeds,  now  banished  and 
now  recalled,  now  fighting  against  the  Moslems,  now 
with  them,  now  for  his  own  hand,  and  in  the  end 
winning  himself  a  realm  and  dying  a  king  without 
the  name, — such  is  the  man  whose  story  we  propose 
to  tell. 

This  hero  of  romance  was  born  about  the  year 
1040  at  Bivar,  a  little  village  near  Burgos,  his  father 
being  Diego  Lainez,  a  man  of  gentle  birth,  his 
mother  Teresa  Eodriguez,  daughter  of  the  governor 
of  the  Asturias.  He  is  often  called  Eodrigo  de  Bivar, 
from  his  birthplace,  but  usually  Eodrigo  Diaz,  or 
Euy  Diez,  as  his  name  is  given  in  the  chronicle. 

While  still  a  boy  the  future  prowess  of  the  Cid  was 
indicated.  He  was  keen  of  intellect,  active  of  frame, 
and  showed  such  wonderful  dexterity  in  manly  ex- 
ercises as  to  become  unrivalled  in  the  use  of  arms. 
Those  were  days  of  almost  constant  war.  The  king- 
dom of  the  Moors  was  beginning  to  fall  to  pieces ; 
that  of  the  Christians  was  growing  steadily  stronger ; 


RUY  DIAZ,  THE   CID   CAMPEADOR.  83 

not  only  did  war  rage  between  the  two  races,  but 
Moor  fought  with  Moor,  Christian  with  Christian, 
and  there  was  abundant  work  ready  for  the  strong 
hand  and  sharp  sword.  This  state  of  aifairs  was  to 
the  taste  of  the  youthful  Eodrigo,  whose  ambition 
was  to  become  a  hero  of  knighthood. 

While  gentle  in  manner  and  magnanimous  in  dis- 
position, the  young  soldier  had  an  exalted  sense  of 
honor  and  was  sternly  devoted  to  duty.  While  he 
was  still  a  boy  his  father  was  bitterly  insulted  by 
Count  Gomez,  who  struck  him  in  the  face.  The  old 
man  brooded  over  his  humiliation  until  he  lost  sleep 
and  appetite,  and  withdrew  from  society  into  dis- 
consolate seclusion. 

Eodrigo,  deeply  moved  by  his  father's  grief,  sought 
and  killed  the  insulter,  and  brought  the  old  man  the 
bleeding  head  of  his  foe.  At  this  the  disconsolate 
Diego  rose  and  embraced  his  son,  and  bade  him  sit 
above  him  at  table,  saying  that  "he  who  brought 
home  that  head  should  be  the  head  of  the  house  of 
Layn  Calvo." 

From  that  day  on  the  fame  of  the  young  knight 
rapidly  grew,  until  at  length  he  defeated  and  cap- 
tured five  Moorish  kings  who  had  invaded  Castile. 
This  exploit  won  him  the  love  of  Ximena,  the  fair 
daughter  of  Count  Gomez,  whom  he  had  slain. 
Foreseeing  that  he  would  become  the  greatest  man 
in  Spain,  the  damsel  waited  not  to  be  wooed,  but 
offered  him  her  hand  in  marriage,  an  offer  which 
he  was  glad  to  accept.  And  ever  after,  says  the 
chronicle,  she  was  his  loving  wife. 

The  young  champion  is  said  to  have  gained  the 


84  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

good-will  of  St.  Lazarus  and  the  Holy  Yirgin  by 
sleeping  with  a  leper  who  had  been  shunned  by  his 
knights.  No  evil  consequences  came  from  this  ex- 
ample of  Christian  philanthropy, — if  it  ever  hap- 
pened,— while  it  added  to  the  knight's  high  repute. 

Fernando  I.,  who  had  gathered  a  large  Christian 
kingdom  under  his  crown,  died  when  Eodrigo  was 
but  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  in  his  will  foolishly  cut 
up  his  kingdom  between  his  three  sons  and  two 
daughters,  greatly  weakening  the  Christian  power, 
and  quickly  bringing  his  sons  to  sword's  point.  By 
the  will  Sancho  was  placed  over  Castile,  Alfonso  be- 
came king  of  Leon,  Garcia  ruled  in  Galicia;  Urraca, 
one  of  the  daughters,  received  the  city  of  Toro,  and 
Elvira  was  given  that  of  Zamora. 

Sancho  was  not  satisfied  with  this  division.  Being 
the  oldest,  he  thought  he  should  have  all,  and  pre- 
pared to  seize  the  shares  of  his  brothers  and  sisters. 
Looking  for  aid  in  this  design,  he  was  attracted  by 
the  growing  fame  of  young  Rodrigo,  and  gained  his 
aid  in  the  restoration  of  Zamora,  which  the  Moors 
had  destroyed.  While  thus  engaged  there  came  to 
Eodrigo  messengers  with  tribute  from  the  five  Moor- 
ish kings  whom  he  had  captured  and  released.  They 
hailed  the  young  warrior  as  Sid,  or  Cid,  and  the 
king,  struck  by  the  title,  said  that  Ruy  Diez  should 
thenceforth  bear  it ;  also  that  he  should  be  known 
as  campeador  or  champion. 

King  Sancho  now  knighted  the  young  warrior 
with  his  own  hand,  and  soon  after  made  him  alferez, 
or  commander  of  his  troops.  As  such  he  was  de- 
spatched against  Alfonso,  who  was  soon  driven  from 


RUY   DIAZ,  THE   CID   CAMPEADOR.  85 

his  kingdom  of  Leon  and  sought  shelter  in  the  Moor- 
ish city  of  Toledo.  Leon  being  occupied,  the  Cid 
marched  against  Galicia,  and  drove  out  Garcia  as  he 
had  done  Alfonso.  Then  he  deprived  Urraca  and 
Elvira  of  the  cities  left  them  by  their  father,  and 
the  whole  kingdom  was  once  more  placed  under  a 
single  ruler. 

It  did  not  long  remain  so.  Sancho  died  in  1072, 
and  at  once  Alfonso  and  Garcia  hurried  back  from 
exile  to  recover  their  lost  realms.  But  Alfonso's 
ambition  equalled  that  of  Sancho.  All  or  none  was 
his  motto.  Invading  the  kingdom  of  Galicia,  he 
robbed  Garcia  of  it  and  held  him  prisoner.  Then 
he  prepared  to  invade  Castile,  and  offered  the  com- 
mand of  the  army  for  this  enterprise  to  the  Cid. 

The  latter  was  ready  for  fighting  in  any  form,  so 
that  he  could  fight  with  honor.  But  there  was 
doubt  in  his  mind  if  service  under  Alfonso  was  con- 
sistent with  the  honor  of  a  knight.  King  Sancho 
had  been  assassinated  while  hunting,  and  it  was 
whispered  that  Alfonso  had  some  share  in  the  mur- 
der. The  high-minded  Cid  would  not  draw  sword 
for  him  unless  he  swore  that  he  had  no  lot  or  part 
in  his  brother's  death.  Twice  the  Cid  gave  him  the 
oath,  whereupon,  says  the  chronicle,  "My  Cid  re- 
peated the  oath  to  him  a  third  time,  and  the  king 
and  the  knights  said  'Amen.'  But  the  wrath  of  the 
king  was  exceeding  great ;  and  he  said  to  the  Cid, 
'  Ruy  Diez,  why  dost  thou  press  me  so,  man  ?'  From 
that  day  forward  there  was  no  love  towards  My  Cid 
in  the  heart  of  the  king." 

But  the  king  had  sworn,  and  the  Cid  entered  his 


86  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

service  and  soon  conquered  Castile,  so  that  Alfonso 
became  monarch  of  Castile,  Leon,  Galicia,  and  Portu- 
gal, and  took  the  title  of  Emperor  of  Spain.  As 
adelantado,  or  lord  of  the  marches,  Euy  Diez  now 
occupied  himself  with  the  Moors, — fighting  where 
hostility  reigned,  taking  tribute  for  the  king  from 
Seville  and  other  cities,  and  settling  with  the  sword 
the  disputes  of  the  chiefs,  or  aiding  them  in  their 
quarrels.  Thus  he  took  part  with  Seville  in  a  war 
with  Cordova,  and  was  rewarded  with  so  rich  a 
present  by  the  grateful  king  that  Alfonso,  inspired 
by  his  secret  hatred  for  the  Cid,  grew  jealous  and 
envious. 

During  these  events  years  passed  on,  and  the  Cid's 
two  fair  daughters  grew  to  womanhood  and  were 
married,  at  the  command  of  the  king,  to  the  two 
counts  of  Carrion.  The  Cid  liked  not  his  sons-in- 
law,  and  good  reason  he  had,  for  they  were  a  pair 
of  base  hounds  despite  their  lordly  title.  The  brides 
were  shamefully  treated  by  them,  being  stripped  and 
beaten  nearly  to  death  on  their  wedding-journey. 

When  word  of  this  outrage  came  to  the  Cid  his 
wrath  overflowed.  Stalking  with  little  reverence 
into  the  king's  hall,  he  sternly  demanded  redress  for 
the  brutal  act.  He  could  not  appeal  to  the  law. 
The  husband  in  those  days  was  supreme  lord  and 
master  of  his  wife.  But  there  was  an  unwritten 
law,  that  of  the  sword,  and  the  incensed  father  de- 
manded that  the  brutal  youths  should  appear  in  the 
lists  and  prove  their  honor,  if  they  could,  against  his 
champion. 

They  dared  not  refuse.     In  those  days,  when  the 


RUY   DIAZ,  THE   CID   CAMPEADOR.  87 

sword  was  the  measure  of  honor  and  justice,  to  re- 
fuse would  have  been  to  be  disgraced.  They  came 
into  the  lists,  where  they  were  beaten  like  the 
hounds  that  they  had  shown  themselves,  and  the 
noble  girls  were  set  free  from  their  bonds.  Better 
husbands  soon  sought  the  Cid's  daughters,  and  they 
were  happily  married  in  the  end. 

The  exploit?  of  the  Cid  were  far  too  many  for  us 
to  tell.  Wherever  he  went  victory  attended  his 
sword.  On  one  occasion  the  king  marched  to  the 
aid  of  one  of  his  Moorish  allies,  leaving  the  Cid  be- 
hind him  too  sick  to  ride.  Here  was  an  opportunity 
for  the  Moors,  a  party  of  whom  broke  into  Castile 
and  by  a  rapid  march  made  themselves  masters  of 
the  fortress  of  Gomez.  Up  from  his  bed  of  sickness 
rose  the  Cid,  mounted  his  steed  (though  he  could 
barely  sit  in  the  saddle),  charged  and  scattered  the 
invaders,  pursued  them  into  the  kingdom  of  Toledo, 
and  returned  with  seven  thousand  prisoners  and  all 
the  Moorish  spoil. 

This  brilliant  defence  of  the  kingdom  was  the 
turning  point  in  his  career.  The  king  of  Toledo 
complained  to  Alfonso  that  his  neutral  territory  had 
been  invaded  by  the  Cid  and  his  troops,  and  King 
Alfonso,  seeking  revenge  for  the  three  oaths  he  had 
been  compelled  to  take,  banished  the  Cid  from  his 
dominions,  on  the  charge  of  invading  the  territory 
of  his  allies. 

Thus  the  champion  went  forth  as  a  knight-errant, 
with  few  followers,  but  a  great  name.  Tears  came 
into  his  eyes  as  he  looked  back  upon  his  home,  its 
doors  open,  its  hall  deserted,  no  hawks  upon  the 


88  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

perches,  no  horses  in  the  stalls.  "  My  enemies  have 
done  this,"  he  said.  "  God  be  praised  for  all  things." 
He  went  to  Burgos,  but  there  the  people  would  not 
receive  him,  having  had  strict  orders  from  the  king. 
Their  houses  were  closed,  the  inn-keepers  barred 
their  doors,  only  a  bold  little  maiden  dared  venture 
out  to  tell  him  of  the  decree.  As  there  was  no 
shelter  for  him  there,  he  was  forced  to  seek  lodging 
in  the  sands  near  the  town. 

Needing  money,  he  obtained  it  by  a  trick  that  was 
not  very  honorable,  though  in  full  accord  with  the 
ethics  of  those  times.  He  pawned  to  the  Jews  two 
chests  which  he  said  were  treasure  chests,  filled  with 
gold.  Six  hundred  marks  were  received,  and  when 
the  chests  were  afterwards  opened  they  proved  to  be 
filled  with  sand.  This  was  merely  a  good  joke  to 
poet  and  chronicler.  The  Jews  lay  outside  the  pale 
of  justice  and  fair-dealing. 

Onward  went  the  Cid,  his  followers  growing  in 
number  as  he  marched.  First  to  Barcelona,  then  to 
Saragossa,  he  went,  seeking  knightly  adventures 
everywhere.  In  Saragossa  he  entered  the  service 
of  the  Moorish  king,  and  for  several  years  fought 
well  and  sturdily  for  his  old  enemies.  But  time 
brought  a  change.  In  1081  Alfonso  captured  Toledo 
and  made  that  city  his  capital,  from  which  he  pre- 
pared to  push  his  way  still  deeper  into  the  Moorish 
dominions.  He  now  needed  the  Cid,  whom  he  had 
banished  five  years  before. 

But  it  was  easier  to  ask  than  to  get.  The  Cid  had 
grown  too  great  to  be  at  any  king's  beck  and  call. 
He  would  fight  for  Alfonso,  but  in  his  own  way, 


RUY  DIAZ,  THE   CID   CAMPEADOR.  89 

holding  himself  free  to  attack  whom  he  pleased  and 
when  he  pleased,  and  to  capture  the  cities  of  the 
Moslems  and  rule  them  as  their  lord.  He  had  be- 
come a  free  lance,  fighting  for  his  own  hand,  while 
armies  sprang,  as  it  were,  from  the  ground  at  his  call 
to  arms. 

In  those  days  of  turmoil  valor  rarely  had  long  to 
wait  for  opportunity.  Eamon  Berenguer,  lord  of 
Barcelona,  had  laid  siege  to  Yalencia,  an  important 
city  on  the  Mediterranean  coast.  Thither  marched 
the  Cid  with  all  speed,  seven  thousand  men  in  his 
train,  and  forced  Eamon  to  raise  the  siege.  The  Cid 
became  governor  of  Yalencia,  under  tribute  to  King 
Alfonso,  and  under  honor  to  hold  it  against  the 
Moors. 

The  famous  champion  was  not  done  with  his 
troubles  with  Alfonso.  In  the  years  that  followed 
he  was  once  more  banished  by  the  faithless  king,  and 
his  wife  and  children  were  seized  and  imprisoned. 
At  a  later  date  he  came  to  the  king's  aid  in  his  wars, 
but  found  him  again  false  to  his  word,  and  was  obliged 
to  flee  for  safety  from  the  camp. 

Yalencia  had  passed  from  his  control  and  had  more 
than  once  since  changed  hands.  At  length  the 
Moorish  power  grew  so  strong  that  the  city  refused 
to  pay  tribute  to  Spain  and  declared  its  independence. 
Here  was  work  for  the  Cid — not  for  the  benefit  of 
Alfonso,  but  for  his  own  honor  and  profit.  He  was 
weary  of  being  made  the  foot-ball  of  a  jealous  and 
faithless  monarch,  and  craved  a  kingdom  of  his  own. 
Against  Yalencia  he  marched  with  an  army  of  free 
swords  at  his  back.     He  was  fighting  now  for  the 


90  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

Cid,  not  for  Moorish  emir  or  Spanish  monarch.  For 
twenty  months  he  beseiged  the  fair  city,  until  star- 
vation came  to  the  aid  of  his  sword.  No  relief 
reached  the  Moors ;  the  elements  fought  against 
them,  floods  of  rain  destroying  the  roads  and  wash- 
ing away  the  bridges;  on  June  15,  1094,  the  Cid 
Campeador  marched  into  the  city  thenceforth  to  be 
associated  with  his  name. 

Ascending  its  highest  tower,  he  gazed  with  joy 
upon  the  fair  possession  which  he  had  won  with  his 
own  good  sword  without  aid  from  Spanish  king  or 
Moorish  ally,  and  which  he  proposed  to  hold  for  his 
own  while  life  remained.  His  city  it  was,  and  to-day 
it  bears  his  name,  being  known  as  Valencia  del  Cid. 
But  he  had  to  hold  it  with  the  good  sword  by  which 
he  won  it,  for  the  Moors,  who  had  failed  to  aid  the 
beleaguered  city,  sought  with  all  their  strength  to 
win  it  back. 

During  the  next  year  thirty  thousand  of  them 
came  and  encamped  about  the  walls  of  the  city. 
But  fighting  behind  walls  was  not  to  the  taste  of 
the  Cid  Campeador.  Out  from  the  gates  he  sallied 
and  drove  them  like  sheep  from  their  camp,  killing 
fifteen  thousand  of  them  in  the  fight. 

"  Be  it  known,"  the  chronicle  tells  us,  "  that  this 
was  a  profitable  day's  work.  Every  foot- soldier 
shared  a  hundred  marks  of  silver  that  day,  and  the 
Cid  returned  full  honorably  to  Valencia.  Great  was 
the  joy  of  the  Christians  in  the  Cid  Euy  Diez,  who 
was  born  in  a  happy  hour.  His  beard  was  grown, 
and  continued  to  grow,  a  great  length.  My  Cid  said 
of  his  chin,  'For  the  love  of  King  Don  Alfonso, 


91 

who  hath  banished  me  from  his  land,  no  scissors 
shall  come  upon  it,  nor  shall  a  hair  be  cut  away,  and 
Moors  and  Christians  shall  talk  of  it.'  "  And  until 
he  died  his  great  beard  grew  on  untouched. 

Not  many  were  the  men  with  whom  he  had  done 
his  work,  but  they  were  soldiers  of  tried  temper  and 
daring  hearts.  "  There  were  one  thousand  knights 
of  lineage  and  five  hundred  and  fifty  other  horsemen. 
There  were  four  thousand  foot-soldiers,  besides  boys 
and  others.  Thus  many  were  the  people  of  My  Cid, 
him  of  Bivar.  And  his  heart  rejoiced,  and  he  smiled 
and  said,  'Thanks  be  to  God  and  to  Holy  Mother 
Mary!  We  had  a  smaller  company  when  we  left 
the  house  of  Bivar.' " 

The  next  year  King  Yussef,  leader  of  the  Moors, 
came  again  to  the  siege  of  Yalencia,  this  time  with 
fifty  thousand  men.  Small  as  was  the  force  of  the 
Cid  as  compared  with  this  great  army,  he  had  no  idea 
of  fighting  cooped  up  like  a  rat  in  a  cage.  Out  once 
more  he  sallied,  with  but  four  thousand  men  at  his 
back.  His  bishop,  Hieronymo,  absolved  them,  say- 
ing, "He  who  shall  die,  fighting  full  forward,  I 
will  take  as  mine  his  sins,  and  God  shall  have  his 
soul." 

A  learned  and  wise  man  was  the  good  bishop,  but 
a  valorous  one  as  well,  mighty  in  arms  alike  on 
horseback  and  on  foot.  "  A  boon,  Cid  don  Eodrigo," 
he  cried.  "  I  have  sung  mass  to  you  this  morning. 
Let  me  have  the  giving  of  the  first  wounds  in  this 
battle." 

"  In  God's  name,  do  as  you  will,"  answered  the  Cid. 

That  day  the  bishop  had  his  will  of  the  foe,  fight- 


92  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

ing  with  both  hands  until  no  man  knew  how  many 
of  the  infidels  he  slew.  Indeed,  they  were  all  too 
busy  to  heed  the  bishop's  blows,  for,  so  the  chronicle 
says,  only  fifteen  thousand  of  the  Moslems  escaped. 
Yussef,  sorely  wounded,  left  to  the  Cid  his  famous 
sword  Tisona,  and  barely  escaped  from  the  field  with 
his  life. 

Bucar,  the  brother  of  Yussef,  came  to  revenge 
him,  but  he  knew  not  with  whom  he  had  to  deal. 
Bishop  Hieronymo  led  the  right  wing,  and  made 
havoc  in  the  ranks  of  the  foe.  "  The  bishop  pricked 
forward,"  we  are  told.  "  Two  Moors  he  slew  with 
the  first  two  thrusts  of  his  lance;  the  haft  broke 
and  he  laid  hold  on  his  sword.  God !  how  well  the 
bishop  fought.  He  slew  two  with  the  lance  and  five 
with  the  sword.     The  Moors  fled." 

"  Turn  this  way,  Bucar,"  cried  the  Cid,  who  rode 
close  on  the  heels  of  the  Moorish  chief;  "  you  who 
came  from  behind  sea  to  see  the  Cid  with  the  long 
beard.  We  must  greet  each  other  and  cut  out  a 
friendship." 

"  God  confound  such  friendships,"  cried  Bucar, 
following  his  flying  troops  with  nimble  speed. 

Hard  behind  him  rode  the  Cid,  but  his  horse  Ba- 
vieca  was  weary  with  the  day's  hard  work,  and 
Bucar  rode  a  fresh  and  swift  steed.  And  thus  they 
went,  fugitive  and  pursuer,  until  the  ships  of  the 
Moors  were  at  hand,  when  the  Cid,  finding  that  he 
could  not  reach  the  Moorish  king  with  his  sword, 
flung  the  weapon  fiercely  at  him,  striking  him  be- 
tween the  shoulders.  Bucar,  with  the  mark  of  bat- 
tle thus  upon  him,  rode  into  the  sea  and  was  taken 


RUT   DIAZ,  THE   CID   CAMPEADOR.  93 

into  a  boat,  while  the  Cid  picked  up  his  sword  from 
the  ground  and  sought  his  men  again. 

The  Moorish  host  did  not  escape  so  well.  Set 
upon  fiercely  by  the  Spaniards,  they  ran  in  a  panic 
into  the  sea,  where  twice  as  many  were  drowned  as 
were  slain  in  the  battle ;  and  of  these,  seventeen 
thousand  and  more  had  fallen,  while  a  vast  host  re- 
mained as  prisoners.  Of  the  twenty-nine  kings  who 
came  with  Bucar,  seventeen  were  left  dead  upon  the 
field. 

The  chronicler  uses  numbers  with  freedom.  The 
Cid  is  his  hero,  and  it  is  his  task  to  exalt  him.  But 
the  efforts  of  the  Moors  to  regain  Valencia  and  their 
failure  to  do  so  may  be  accepted  as  history.  In  due 
time,  however,  age  began  to  tell  upon  the  Cid,  and 
death  came  to  him  as  it  does  to  all.  He  died  in 
1099,  from  grief,  as  the  story  goes,  that  his  colleague, 
Alvar  Fanez,  had  suffered  a  defeat.  Whether  from 
grief  or  age,  at  any  rate  he  died,  and  his  wife, 
Ximena,  was  left  to  hold  the  city,  which  for  two 
years  she  gallantly  did,  against  all  the  power  of  the 
Moors.  Then  Alfonso  entered  it,  and,  finding  that 
he  could  not  hold  it,  burned  the  principal  buildings 
and  left  it  to  the  Moors.  A  century  and  a  quarter 
passed  before  the  Christians  won  it  again. 

When  Alfonso  left  the  city  of  the  Cid  he  brought 
with  him  the  body  of  the  campeador,  mounted  upon 
his  steed  Bavieca,  and  solemnly  and  slowly  the  train 
wound  on  until  the  corpse  of  the  mighty  dead  was 
brought  to  the  cloister  of  the  monastery  of  Cardena. 
Here  the  dead  hero  was  seated  on  a  throne,  with  his 
sword  Tisona  in  his  hand;  and,  the  story  goes,  a 


94  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

caitiff  Jew,  perhaps  wishing  to  revenge  his  brethren 
who  had  been  given  sand  for  gold,  plucked  the  flow- 
ing beard  of  the  Cid.  At  this  insult  the  hand  of  the 
corpse  struck  out  and  the  insulter  was  hurled  to  the 
floor. 

The  Cid  Campeador  is  a  true  hero  of  romance, 
and  well  are  the  Spaniards  proud  of  him.  Honor 
was  the  moving  spring  of  his  career.  As  a  devoted 
son,  he  revenged  the  insult  to  his  father ;  as  a  loving 
husband,  he  made  Ximena  the  partner  of  his  fame ; 
as  a  tender  father,  he  redressed  his  daughters' 
wrongs;  as  a  loyal  subject,  he  would  not  serve  a 
king  on  whom  doubt  of  treachery  rested.  In  spite 
of  the  injustice  of  the  king,  he  was  true  to  his  coun- 
try, and  came  again  and  again  to  its  aid.  Though 
forced  into  the  field  as  a  free  lance,  he  was  through- 
out a  Christian  cavalier.  And,  though  he  cheated 
the  Jews,  the  story  goes  that  he  repaid  them  their 
gold.  Courage,  courtesy,  and  honor  were  the  jewels 
of  his  fame,  and  romance  holds  no  nobler  hero. 

It  will  not  be  amiss  to  close  our  tale  of  the  Cid 
with  a  quotation  from  the  famous  poem  in  which  it 
is  shown  how  even  a  lion  quailed  before  his  majesty : 

"  Peter  Bermuez  arose ;  somewhat  he  had  to  say ; 
The  words  were  strangled  in  his  throat,  they  could  not  find 

their  way ; 
Till  forth  they  came  at  once,  without  a  stop  or  stay : 
*  Cid,  I'll  tell  you  what,  this  always  is  your  way  ; 
You  have  always  served  me  thus,  whenever  you  have  come 
To  meet  here  in  the  Cortes,  you  call  me  Peter  the  Dumb. 
I  cannot  help  my  nature ;  I  never  talk  nor  rail ; 
But  when  a  thing  is  to  be  done,  you  know  I  never  fail. 


RUY   DIAZ,  THE   CID  CAMPEADOR.  95 

Fernando,  you  have  lied,  you  have  lied  in  every  word ; 

You  have  been  honored  by  the  Cid  and  favored  and  preferred. 

I  know  of  all  your  tricks,  and  can  tell  them  to  your  face  : 

Do  you  remember  in  Valencia  the  skirmish  and  the  chase  ? 

You  asked  leave  of  the  Cid  to  make  the  first  attack , 

You  went  to  meet  a  Moor,  but  you  soon  came  running  back. 

I  met  the  Moor  and  killed  him,  or  he  would  have  killed  you ; 

I  gave  you  up  his  arms,  and  all  that  was  my  due. 

Up  to  this  very  hour,  I  never  said  a  word ; 

You  praised  yourself  before  the  Cid  and  I  stood  by  and  heard 

How  you  had  killed  the  Moor,  and  done  a  valiant  act ; 

And  they  believed  you  all,  but  they  never  knew  the  fact. 

You  are  tall  enough  and  handsome,  but  cowardly  and  weak, 

Thou  tongue  without  a  hand,  how  can  you  dare  to  speak  ? 

There's  the  story  of  the  lions  should  never  be  forgot ; 

Now  let  us  hear,  Fernando,  what  answer  you  have  got  ? 

The  Cid  was  sleeping  in  his  chair,  with  all  his  knights  around ; 

The  cry  went  forth  along  the  hall  that  the  lion  was  unbound. 

What  did  you  do,  Fernando  ?     Like  a  coward  as  you  were, 

You  shrunk  behind  the  Cid,  and  crouched  beneath  his  chair. 

We  pressed  around  the  throne  to  shield  our  loved  from  harm. 

Till  the  good  Cid  awoke.     He  rose  without  alarm. 

He  went  to  meet  the  lion  with  his  mantle  on  his  arm. 

The  lion  was  abashed  the  noble  Cid  to  meet ; 

He  bowed  his  mane  to  the  earth,  his  muzzle  at  his  feet. 

The  Cid  by  the  neck  and  the  mane  drew  him  to  his  den, 

He  thrust  him  in  at  the  hatch,  and  came  to  the  hall  agaiiL 

He  found  his  knights,  his  vassals,  and  all  his  valiant  men. 

He  asked  for  his  sons-in-law,  they  were  neither  of  them  thertt 

I  defy  you  for  a  coward  and  a  traitor  as  you  are.'  " 


LAS  NAVAS  DE  TO  LOS  A. 


On  the  16th  of  July,  1212,  was  fought  the  great 
battle  which  broke  the  Moorish  power  in  Spain. 
During  the  two  centuries  before  fresh  streams  of  in- 
vasion had  flowed  in  from  Africa  to  yield  new  life 
to  the  Moslem  power.  From  time  to  time  in  the 
Mohammedan  world  reforms  have  sprung  up,  and 
been  carried  far  and  wide  by  fanaticism  and  the 
sword.  One  such  body  of  reformers,  the  Almora- 
vides,  invaded  Spain  in  the  eleventh  century  and 
carried  all  before  it.  It  was  with  these  that  the 
Cid  Campeador  had  to  deal.  A  century  later  a  new 
reformer,  calling  himself  El  Mahdi,  appeared  in 
Africa,  and  set  going  a  movement  which  overflowed 
the  African  states  and  made  its  way  into  Spain, 
where  it  subdued  the  Moslem  kingdoms  and  threat- 
ened the  Christian  states.  These  invaders  were 
known  as  the  Almohades.  They  were  pure  Moors. 
The  Arab  movement  had  lost  its  strength,  and  from 
tha+  time  forw^ard  the  Moslem  dominions  in  Spain 
were  peopled  chiefly  by  Moors. 

Spain  was  threatened  now  as  France  had  been 
threatened  centuries  before  when  Charles  Martel 
crushed  the  Arab  hordes  on  the  plains  of  Tours.  All 
Christendom  felt  the  danger  and  Pope  Innocent  III. 
preached  a  crusade  for  the  defence  of  Spain  against 
the  infidel.  In  response,  thousands  of  armed  cru- 
96 


LAS   NAVAS  DE  TOLOSA.  97 

saders  flocked  into  Spain,  coming  in  corps,  in  bands, 
and  as  individuals,  and  gathered  about  Toledo,  the 
capital  of  Alfonso  VIIL,  King  of  Castile.  From  all 
the  surrounding  nations  they  came,  and  camped  in 
the  rich  country  about  the  capital,  a  host  which 
Alfonso  had  much  ado  to  feed. 

Mohammed  An-Nassir,  the  emperor  of  the  Almo- 
hades,  responded  to  the  effort  of  the  Pope  by  organ- 
izing a  crusade  in  Moslem  Africa.  He  proclaimed  an 
Algihedj  or  Holy  War,  ordered  a  massacre  of  all  the 
Christians  in  his  dominions,  and  then  led  the  fanati- 
cal murderers  to  Spain  to  join  the  forces  there  in 
arms.  Christian  Europe  was  pitted  against  Moslem 
Africa  in  a  holy  war,  Spain  the  prize  of  victory,  and 
the  plains  of  Andalusia  the  arena  of  the  coming  des- 
perate strife. 

The  decisive  moment  was  at  hand.  Mohammed 
left  Morocco  and  reached  Seville  in  June.  His  new 
levies  were  pouring  into  Spain  in  hosts.  On  the  21st 
of  June  Alfonso  began  his  advance,  leading  southward 
a  splendid  array.  Archbishops  and  bishops  headed 
the  army.  In  the  van  marched  a  mighty  force  of 
fifty  thousand  men  under  Don  Diego  Lopez  de  Haro, 
ten  thousand  of  them  being  cavalry.  After  them 
came  the  troops  of  the  kings  of  Aragon  and  Castile, 
each  a  distinct  army,  l^ext  came  the  knights  of 
St.  John  of  Calatrava  and  the  knights  of  Santiago, 
their  grand-masters  leading,  and  after  them  many 
other  bodies,  including  troops  from  Italy  and  Ger- 
many. Such  a  gallant  host  Spain  had  rarely  seen. 
It  was  needed,  for  the  peril  was  great.  While  one 
hundred  thousand  marched  under  the  Christian  ban- 

7 


98  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

ners,  the  green  standard  of  the  prophet,  if  we  may 
credit  the  historians,  rose  before  an  army  nearly  four 
times  as  large. 

Without  dwelling  on  the  events  of  the  march,  we 
may  hasten  forward  to  the  12th  of  July,  when  the 
host  of  Alfonso  reached  the  vicinity  of  the  Moorish 
army,  and  the  Navas  de  Tolosa,  the  destined  field  of 
battle,  lay  near  at  hand.  The  word  navas  means 
"  plains."  Here,  on  a  sloping  spur  of  the  Sierra 
Morena,  in  the  upper  valley  of  the  Guadalquiver, 
about  seventy  miles  east  of  Cordova,  lies  an  extended 
table-land,  a  grand  plateau  whose  somewhat  sloping 
surface  gave  ample  space  for  the  vast  hosts  which 
met  there  on  that  far-off  July  day. 

To  reach  the  plateau  was  the  problem  before  Al- 
fonso. The  Moslems  held  the  ground,  and  occupied 
in  force  the  pass  of  Losa,  Nature's  highway  to  the 
plain.  What  was  to  be  done  ?  The  pass  could  be 
won,  if  at  all,  only  at  great  cost  in  life.  No  other 
pass  was  known.  To  retire  would  be  to  inspirit  the 
enemy  and  dispirit  the  Christian  host.  No  easy  way 
out  of  the  quandary  at  first  appeared,  but  a  way 
was  found, — by  miracle,  the  writers  of  that  time  say  ; 
but  it  hardly  seems  a  miracle  that  a  shepherd  of  the 
region  knew  of  another  mountain-pass.  This  man, 
Martin  Halaja,  had  grazed  his  flocks  in  that  vicinity 
for  years.  He  told  the  king  of  a  pass  unknown  to 
the  enemy,  by  which  the  army  might  reach  the 
table-land,  and  to  prove  his  words  led  Lopez  de 
Haro  and  another  through  this  little-known  mountain 
by-way.  It  was  difficult  but  passable,  the  army  was 
put  in  motion  and  traversed  it  all  night  long,  and 


LAS   NAVAS   DE   TOLOSA.  99 

on  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  July  the  astonished 
eyes  of  the  Mohammedans  gazed  on  the  Christian 
host,  holding  in  force  the  borders  of  the  plateau, 
and  momentarily  increasing  in  numbers  and  strength. 
Ten  miles  before  the  eyes  of  Alfonso  and  his  men 
stretched  the  plain,  level  in  the  centre,  in  the  distance 
rising  in  gentle  slopes  to  its  border  of  hills,  like  a  vast 
natural  amphitheatre.  The  soldiers,  filled  with  hope 
and  enthusiasm,  spread  through  their  ranks  the  story 
that  the  shepherd  who  had  led  them  was  an  angel, 
sent  by  the  Almighty  to  lead  his  people  to  victory 
over  the  infidel. 

Mohammed  and  his  men  had  been  told  on  the  pre- 
vious day  by  their  scouts  that  the  camp  of  the  Chris- 
tians was  breaking  up,  and  rejoiced  in  what  seemed 
a  victory  without  a  blow.  But  when  they  saw  these 
same  Christians  defiling  in  thousands  before  them 
on  the  plain,  ranged  in  battle  array  under  their  va- 
rious standards,  their  joy  was  changed  to  rage  and 
consternation.  Against  the  embattled  front  their 
wild  riders  rode,  threatening  the  steady  troops  with 
brandished  lances  and  taunting  them  with  coward- 
ice. But  Alfonso  held  his  mail-clad  battalions  firm, 
and  the  light-armed  Moorish  horsemen  hesitated  to 
attack.  Word  was  brought  to  Mohammed  that  the 
Christians  would  not  fight,  and  in  hasty  gratula- 
tion  he  sent  off  letters  to  cities  in  the  rear  to  that 
effect.  He  little  dreamed  that  he  was  soon  to  follow 
his  messengers  in  swifter  speed. 

It  was  a  splendid  array  upon  which  the  Christians 
gazed, — one  well  calculated  to  make  them  tremble  for 
the  result, — for  the  hosts  of  Mohammed  covered  the 


100  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

hill-sides  and  plain  like  "countless  swarms  of  lo- 
custs." On  an  eminence  which  gave  an  outlook  over 
the  whole  broad  space  stood  the  emperor's  tent,  of 
three-ply  crimson  velvet  flecked  with  gold,  strings 
of  pearls  depending  from  its  purple  fringes.  To 
guard  it  from  assault  rows  of  iron  chains  were 
stretched,  before  which  stood  three  thousand  camels 
in  line.  In  front  of  these  ten  thousand  negroes 
formed  a  living  wall,  their  front  bristling  with  the 
steel  of  their  lances,  whose  butts  were  planted  firmly 
in  the  sand.  In  the  centre  of  this  powerful  guard 
stood  the  emperor,  wearing  the  green  dress  and  tur- 
ban of  his  ancestral  line.  Grasping  in  one  hand  his 
scimitar,  in  the  other  he  held  a  Koran,  from  which 
he  read  those  passages  of  inspiration  to  the  Moslems 
which  promised  the  delights  of  Paradise  to  those 
who  should  fall  in  a  holy  war  and  the  torments  of 
hell  to  the  coward  who  should  desert  his  ranks. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday.  The  Moslems,  eager 
for  battle,  stood  all  day  in  line,  but  the  Christians 
declined  to  fight,  occupying  themselves  in  arranging 
their  different  corps.  I^ight  descended  without  a 
skirmish.  But  this  could  not  continue  with  the  two 
armies  so  closely  face  to  face.  One  side  or  the  other 
must  surely  attack  on  the  following  day.  At  mid- 
night heralds  called  the  Christians  to  mass  and 
prayer.  Everywhere  priests  were  busy  confessing 
and  shriving  the  soldiers.  The  sound  of  the  furbish- 
ing of  arms  mingled  with  the  strains  of  religious 
service.  At  the  dawn  of  the  next  day  both  hosts 
were  drawn  up  in  battle  array.  The  great  struggle 
was  about  to  begin. 


LAS  NAVAS  DE  TOLO»A.  IGH 

The  army  of  the  Moors,  said  to  contain  three  hun- 
dred thousand  regular  troops  and  seventy-five  thou- 
sand irregulars,  was  drawn  up  in  crescent  shape  in 
front  of  the  imperial  tent, — in  the  centre  the  vast 
host  of  the  Alraohades,  the  tribes  of  the  desert  on 
the  wings,  in  advance  the  light-armed  troops.  The 
Christian  host  was  formed  in  four  legions,  King 
Alfonso  occupying  the  centre,  his  banner  bearing  an 
eflSgy  of  the  Yirgin.  With  him  were  Eodrigo  Xime- 
nes,  the  archbishop  of  Toledo,  and  many  other  prel- 
ates. The  force  was  less  than  one  hundred  thousand 
strong,  some  of  the  crusaders  having  left  it  in  the 
march. 

The  sun  was  not  high  when  the  loud  sound  of  the 
Christian  trumpets  and  the  Moorish  atahals  gave 
signal  for  the  fray,  and  the  two  hosts  surged  forward 
to  meet  in  fierce  assault.  Sternly  and  fiercely  the 
battle  went  on,  the  struggling  multitudes  swaying 
in  the  ardor  of  the  fight, — now  the  Christians,  now 
the  Moslems  surging  forward  or  driven  back.  With 
difficulty  the  thin  ranks  of  the  Christians  bore  the 
onsets  of  their  densely  grouped  foes,  and  at  length 
King  Alfonso,  in  fear  for  the  result,  turned  to  the 
prelate  Eodrigo  and  exclaimed, — 

"  Archbishop,  you  and  I  must  die  here." 

"Not  so,"  cried  the  bold  churchman.  "Here  we 
must  triumph  over  our  enemies." 

"Then  let  us  to  the  van,  where  we  are  sorely 
needed,  for,  indeed,  our  lines  are  being  bitterly 
pressed." 

Nothing  backward,  the  archbishop  followed  the 
king.     Fernan  Garcia,  one  of  the  king's  cavaliers, 


i02  .tllSTORICAL   TALES. 

urged  him  to  wait  for  aid,  but  Alfonso,  commending 
himself  to  God  and  the  Virgin,  spurred  forward  and 
plunged  into  the  thick  of  the  fight.  And  ever  as  he 
rode,  by  his  side  rode  the  archbishop,  wearing  his 
chasuble  and  bearing  aloft  the  cross.  The  Moorish 
troops,  who  had  been  jeering  at  the  king  and  the 
cross-bearing  prelate,  drew  back  before  this  impetu- 
ous assault,  which  was  given  force  by  the  troops 
who  crowded  in  to  the  rescue  of  the  king.  The 
Moors  soon  yielded  to  the  desperate  onset,  and  were 
driven  back  in  wild  disarray. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  end.  Treason  in 
the  Moorish  ranks  came  to  the  Christian  aid.  Some 
of  Mohammed's  force,  who  hated  him  for  having 
cruelly  slain  their  chief,  turned  and  fled.  The  break- 
ing of  their  centre  opened  a  way  for  the  Spaniards 
to  the  living  fortress  which  guarded  the  imperial 
tent,  and  on  this  dense  line  of  sable  lancers  the 
Christian  cavalry  madly  charged. 

In  vain  they  sought  to  break  that  serried  line  of 
steel.  Some  even  turned  their  horses  and  tried  to 
back  them  in,  but  without  avail.  Many  fell  in  the 
attempt.  The  Moslem  ranks  seemed  impervious. 
In  the  end  one  man  did  what  a  host  had  failed  to 
perform.  A  single  cavalier,  Alvar  Nunez  de  Lara, 
stole  in  between  the  negroes  and  the  camels,  in  some 
way  passed  the  chains,  and  with  a  cheer  of  triumph 
raised  his  banner  in  the  interior  of  the  line.  A 
second  and  a  third  followed  in  his  track.  The  gap 
between  the  camels  and  the  guard  widened.  Dozens, 
hundreds  rushed  to  join  their  daring  leader.  The 
camels  were  loosened  and  dispersed;   the   negroes, 


LAS   NAVAS  DE  TOLOSA.  103 

attacked  front  and  rear,  perished  or  fled ;  the  living 
wall  that  guarded  the  emperor  was  gone,  and  his 
sacred  person  was  in  peril. 

Mohammed  was  dazed.  His  lips  still  repeated 
from  the  Koran,  "  God  alone  is  true,  and  Satan  is  a 
betrayer,"  but  terror  was  beginning  to  stir  the  roots 
of  his  hair.  An  Arab  rode  up  on  a  swift  mare,  and, 
springing  to  the  ground,  cried, — 

"  Mount  and  flee,  O  king.  Not  thy  steed  but  my 
mare.  She  comes  of  the  noblest  breed,  and  knows 
not  how  to  fail  her  rider  in  his  need.  All  is  lost  1 
Mount  and  flee !" 

All  was  lost,  indeed.  Mohammed  scrambled  up 
and  set  off  at  the  best  speed  of  the  Arabian  steed, 
followed  by  his  troops  in  a  panic  of  terror.  The 
rout  was  complete.  While  day  continued  the  Chris- 
tian horsemen  followed  and  struck,  until  the  bodies 
of  slain  Moors  lay  so  thick  upon  the  plain  that  there 
was  scarce  room  for  man  or  horse  to  pass.  Then 
Archbishop  Eodrigo,  who  had  done  so  much  towards 
the  victory,  stood  before  Mohammed's  tent  and  in  a 
loud  voice  intoned  the  Te  Bemn  laudamus,  the  soldiers 
uniting  in  the  sacred  chant  of  victory. 

The  archbishop,  who  became  the  historian  of  this 
decisive  battle,  speaks  of  two  hundred  thousand 
Moslem  slain.  We  cannot  believe  it  so  many,  even 
on  the  word  of  an  archbishop.  Twenty-five  Chris- 
tians alone  fell.  This  is  as  much  too  small  as  the 
other  estimate  is  too  large.  But,  whatever  the  losses, 
it  was  a  great  and  glorious  victory,  and  the  spoils 
of  war  that  fell  to  the  victors  were  immense.  Gold 
and  silver  were  there  in  abundance ;  horses,  camels, 


104  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

and  wagons  in  profusion;  arms  of  ail  kinds,  com- 
missary stores  in  quantities.  So  vast  was  the  num- 
ber of  lances  strewn  on  the  ground  that  the  con- 
quering army  used  only  these  for  firewood  in  their 
camp,  and  did  not  burn  the  half  of  them. 

King  Alfonso,  with  a  wise  and  prudent  liberality, 
divided  the  spoil  among  his  troops  and  allies,  keeping 
only  the  glory  of  the  victory  for  himself  Moham- 
med's splendid  tent  was  taken  to  Eome  to  adorn  St. 
Peter's,  and  the  captured  banners  were  sent  to  the 
cities  of  Spain  as  evidences  of  the  great  victory. 
For  himself,  the  king  reserved  a  fine  emerald,  which 
he  placed  in  the  centre  of  his  shield.  Ever  since 
that  brilliant  day  in  Spanish  annals,  the  sixteenth 
of  July  has  been  kept  as  a  holy  festival,  in  which 
the  captured  banners  are  carried  in  grand  procession, 
to  celebrate  the  "  Triumph  of  the  Cross." 

The  supposed  miracle  of  the  shepherd  was  not 
the  only  one  which  the  monkish  writers  saw  in  the 
victorious  event.  It  was  said  that  a  red  cross,  like 
that  of  Calatrava,  appeared  in  the  sky,  inspiriting 
the  Christians  and  dismaying  their  foes ;  and  that 
the  sight  of  the  Yirgin  banner  borne  by  the  king's 
standard-bearer  struck  the  Moslems  with  torpor. 
It  was  a  credulous  age,  one  in  which  miracles  could 
be  woven  out  of  the  most  homely  and  every-day 
material. 

Death  soon  came  to  the  leaders  in  the  war.  Mo- 
hammed, sullen  with  defeat,  hurried  to  Morocco, 
where  he  shut  himself  up  in  gloomy  seclusion,  and 
died — or  was  poisoned — before  the  year's  end.  Al- 
fonso died  two  years  later.     The  Christians  did  not 


LAS   NAVAS   DE   TOLOSA.  l05 

follow  up  their  victory  with  much  energy,  and  the 
Moslems  still  held  a  large  section  of  Spain,  but  their 
power  had  culminated  and  with  this  signal  defeat 
began  its  decline.  Step  by  step  they  yielded  before 
the  Christian  advance,  though  nearly  three  cen- 
turies more  passed  before  they  lost  their  final  hold 
on  Spain. 


THE  KEY  OF  GRANADA. 

Nearly  eight  hundred  years  had  passed  away 
after  the  landing  of  Tarik,  the  Arab,  in  Spain  and 
the  defeat  and  death  of  Don  Eoderic,  the  last  king 
of  the  Goths.  During  those  centuries  the  handful 
of  warriors  which  in  the  mountains  of  the  north 
had  made  a  final  stand  against  the  invading  hordes 
had  grown  and  spread,  pushing  back  the  Arabs  and 
Moors,  until  now  the  Christians  held  again  nearly 
all  the  land,  the  sole  remnant  of  Moslem  dominion 
being  the  kingdom  of  Granada  in  the  south.  The 
map  of  Spain  shows  the  present  province  of  Granada 
as  a  narrow  district  bordering  on  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  but  the  Moorish  kingdom  covered  a  wider  space, 
spreading  over  the  present  provinces  of  Malaga  and 
Almeria,  and  occupying  one  of  the  richest  sections 
of  Spain.  It  was  a  rock-bound  region.  In  every 
direction  ran  sierras,  or  rugged  mountain-chains,  so 
rocky  and  steep  as  to  make  the  kingdom  almost 
impregnable.  Yet  within  their  sterile  confines  lay 
numbers  of  deep  and  rich  valleys,  prodigal  in  their 
fertility. 

In  the  centre  of  the  kingdom  arose  its  famous 
capital,  the  populous  and  beautiful  city  of  Granada, 
standing  in  the  midst  of  a  great  vega  or  plain,  one 
hundred  miles  and  more  in  circumference  and  en- 
compassed by  the  snowy  mountains  of  the  Sierra 
106 


THE   KEY   OF   GRANADA.  107 

Nevada.  The  seventy  thousand  houses  of  the  city 
spread  over  two  lofty  hills  and  occupied  the  valley 
between  them,  through  which  ran  the  waters  of  the 
Douro.  On  one  of  these  hills  stood  the  Alcazaba,  a 
strong  fortress :  on  the  other  rose  the  famous  Al- 
hambra,  a  royal  palace  and  castle,  with  space  within 
its  confines  for  forty  thousand  men,  and  so  rare  and 
charming  in  its  halls  and  courts,  its  gardens  and 
fountains,  that  it  remains  to-day  a  place  of  pilgrim- 
age to  the  world  for  lovers  of  the  beautiful  in  archi- 
tecture. And  from  these  hills  the  city  between 
showed  no  less  attractive,  with  its  groves  of  citron, 
orange,  and  pomegranate  trees,  its  leaping  fountains, 
its  airy  minarets,  its  mingled  aspect  of  crowded 
dwellings  and  verdant  gardens. 

High  walls,  three  leagues  in  circuit,  with  twelve 
gates  and  a  thousand  and  thirty  towers,  girded  it 
round,  beyond  which  extended  the  vega,  a  vast  gar- 
den of  delight,  to  be  compared  only  with  the  famous 
plain  of  Damascus.  Through  it  the  Xenil  wound  in 
silvery  curves,  its  waters  spread  over  the  plain  in 
thousands  of  irrigating  streams  and  rills.  Blooming 
gardens  and  fields  of  waving  grain  lent  beauty  to 
the  plain  ;  orchards  and  vineyards  clothed  the  slopes 
of  the  hills;  in  the  orange  and  citron  groves  the 
voice  of  the  nightingale  made  the  nights  musical. 
In  short,  all  was  so  beautiful  below  and  so  soft  and 
serene  above  that  the  Moors  seemed  not  without 
warrant  for  their  fond  belief  that  Paradise  lay  in 
the  skies  overhanging  this  happy  plain. 

But,  alas  for  Granada !  war  hung  round  its  bor- 
ders, and  the  blare  of  the  trumpet  and  clash  of  the 


lOS  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

sword  were  ever  familiar  sounds  within  its  confines. 
Christian  kingdoms  surrounded  it,  whose  people  en- 
vied the  Moslems  this  final  abiding-place  on  the  soil 
of  Spain.  Hostilities  were  ceaseless  on  the  borders ; 
plundering  forays  were  the  delight  of  the  Castilian 
cavaliers  and  the  Moorish  horsemen.  Every  town 
was  a  fortress,  and  on  every  peak  stood  a  watch- 
tower,  ready  to  give  warning  with  a  signal  fire  by 
night  or  a  cloud  of  smoke  by  day  of  any  movement 
of  invasion.  For  many  years  such  a  state  of  affairs 
continued  between  Granada  and  its  principal  an- 
tagonist, tbe  united  kingdoms  of  Castile  and  Leon. 
Even  when,  in  1457,  a  Moorish  king,  disheartened 
by  a  foray  into  the  vega  itself,  made  a  truce  with 
Henry  IV.,  king  of  Castile  and  Leon,  and  agreed  to 
pay  him  an  annual  tribute,  the  right  of  warlike  raids 
was  kept  open.  It  was  only  required  that  they  must 
be  conducted  secretly,  without  sound  of  trumpet  or 
show  of  banners,  and  must  not  continue  more  than 
three  days.  Such  a  state  of  affairs  was  desired  alike 
by  the  Castilian  and  Moorish  chivalry,  who  loved 
these  displays  of  daring  and  gallantry,  and  enjoyed 
nothing  more  than  a  crossing  of  swords  with  their 
foes.  In  1465  a  Moorish  prince,  Muley  Abul  Hassan,  a 
man  who  enjoyed  war  and  hated  the  Christians,  came 
to  the  throne,  and  at  once  the  tribute  ceased  to  be 
paid.  For  some  years  still  the  truce  continued,  for 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  the  new  monarchs  of  Spain, 
had  troubles  at  home  to  keep  them  engaged.  But  in 
1481  the  war  reopened  with  more  than  its  old  fury, 
and  was  continued  until  Granada  fell  in  1492,  the 
year  in  which  the  wise  Isabella  gave  aid  to  Columbus 


THE   KEY   OF   GRANADA.  109 

for  the  discovery  of  an  unknown  world  beyond  the 
seas. 

The  war  for  the  conquest  of  Granada  was  one  full 
of  stirring  adventure  and  hair-breadth  escapes,  of 
forays  and  sieges,  of  the  clash  of  swords  and  the 
brandishing  of  spears.  It  was  no  longer  fought  by 
Spain  on  the  principle  of  the  raid, — to  dash  in,  kill, 
plunder,  and  speed  away  with  clatter  of  hoofs  and 
rattle  of  spurs.  It  was  Ferdinand's  policy  to  take 
and  hold,  capturing  stronghold  after  stronghold  until 
all  Granada  was  his.  In  a  memorable  pun  on  the 
name  of  Granada,  which  signifies  a  pomegranate,  he 
said,  "  I  will  pick  out  the  seeds  of  this  pomegranate 
one  by  one." 

Muley  Abul  Hassan,  the  new  Moorish  king,  began 
the  work,  foolishly  breaking  the  truce  which  Fer^ 
dinand  wished  a  pretext  to  bring  to  an  end.  On  a 
dark  night  in  1481  he  fell  suddenly  on  Zahara,  a 
mountain  town  on  the  Christian  frontier,  so  strong 
in  itself  that  it  was  carelessly  guarded.  It  was 
taken  by  surprise,  its  inhabitants  were  carried  off 
as  slaves,  and  a  strong  Moorish  garrison  was  left  to 
hold  it. 

The  Moors  paid  dearly  for  their  daring  assault. 
The  Christians  retaliated  by  an  attack  on  the  strong 
and  rich  city  of  Alhama,  a  stronghold  within  the 
centre  of  the  kingdom,  only  a  few  leagues  distant 
from  the  capital  itself  Strongly  situated  on  a  rocky 
height,  with  a  river  nearly  surrounding  it  and  a 
fortress  seated  on  a  steep  crag  above  it,  and  far 
within  the  border,  no  dream  of  danger  to  Alhama 
came  to  the  mind  of  the   Moors,  who   contented 


110  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

themselves  with  a  small  garrison  and  a  negligent 
guard. 

But  the  loss  of  Zahara  had  exasperated  Ferdinand. 
His  wars  at  home  were  over  and  he  had  time  to  at- 
tend to  the  Moors,  and  scouts  had  brought  word  of 
the  careless  security  of  the  guard  of  Alhama.  It 
could  be  reached  by  a  difficult  and  little-travelled 
route  through  the  defiles  of  the  mountains,  and  there 
were  possibilities  that  a  secret  and  rapid  march 
might  lead  to  its  surprise. 

At  the  head  of  the  enterprise  was  Don  Rodrigo 
Ponce  de  Leon,  Marquis  of  Cadiz,  the  most  distin- 
guished champion  in  the  war  that  followed.  With 
a  select  force  of  three  thousand  light  cavalry  and 
four  thousand  infantry,  adherents  of  several  nobles 
who  attended  the  expedition,  the  mountains  were 
traversed  with  the  greatest  secrecy  and  celerity,  the 
marches  being  made  mainly  by  night  and  the  troops 
remaining  quiet  and  concealed  during  the  day.  No 
fires  were  made  and  no  noise  was  permitted,  and 
midnight  of  the  third  day  found  the  invaders  in  a 
small,  deep  valley  not  far  from  the  fated  town.  Only 
now  were  the  troops  told  what  was  in  view.  They 
had  supposed  that  they  were  on  an  ordinary  foray. 
The  inspiring  tidings  filled  them  with  ardor,  and 
they  demanded  to  be  led  at  once  to  the  assault. 

Two  hours  before  daybreak  the  army  was  placed 
in  ambush  close  to  Alhama,  and  a  body  of  three 
hundred  picked  men  set  out  on  the  difficult  task  of 
scaling  the  walls  of  the  castle  and  surprising  its  gar- 
rison. The  ascent  was  steep  and  very  difficult,  but 
they  were  guided  by  one  who  had  carefully  studied 


THE   KEY  OF  GRANADA.  Ill 

the  situation  on  a  previous  secret  visit  and  knew 
what  paths  to  take.  Following  him  they  reached 
the  foot  of  the  castle  walls  without  discovery. 

Here,  under  the  dark  shadow  of  the  towers,  they 
halted  and  listened.  There  was  not  a  sound  to  be 
heard,  not  a  light  to  be  seen ;  sleep  seemed  to  brood 
over  castle  and  town.  The  ladders  were  placed  and 
the  men  noiselessly  ascended,  Ortega,  the  guide, 
going  first.  The  parapet  reached,  they  moved 
stealthily  along  its  summit  until  they  came  upon  a 
sleepy  sentinel.  Seizing  him  by  the  throat,  Ortega 
flourished  a  dagger  before  his  eyes  and  bade  him 
point  the  way  to  the  guard-room.  The  frightened 
Moor  obeyed,  and  a  dagger  thrust  ended  all  danger 
of  his  giving  an  alarm.  In  a  minute  more  the  small 
scaling  party  was  in  the  guard-room,  massacring 
the  sleeping  garrison,  while  the  remainder  of  the 
three  hundred  were  rapidly  ascending  to  the  battle- 
ments. 

Some  of  the  awakened  Moors  fought  desperately 
for  their  lives,  the  clash  of  arms  and  cries  of  the 
combatants  came  loudly  from  the  castle,  and  the 
ambushed  army,  finding  that  the  surprise  had  been 
effective,  rushed  from  their  lurking-place  with  shouts 
and  the  sound  of  trumpets  and  drums,  hoping  there- 
by to  increase  the  dismay  of  the  garrison.  Ortega 
at  length  fought  his  way  to  a  postern,  which  he 
threw  open,  admitting  the  Marquis  of  Cadiz  and  a 
strong  following,  who  quickly  overcame  all  opposi- 
tion, the  citadel  being  soon  in  full  possession  of  the 
Christians. 

While  this  went  on  the  town  took  the  alarm.    The 


112  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

garrison  had  been  destroyed  in  the  citadel,  but  all 
the  Moors,  citizens  and  soldiers  alike,  were  accus- 
tomed to  weapons  and  warlike  in  spirit,  and,  looking 
for  speedy  aid  from  Granada,  eight  leagues  away,  the 
tradesmen  manned  the  battlements  and  discharged 
showers  of  stones  and  arrows  upon  the  Christians 
wherever  visible.  The  streets  leading  to  the  citadel 
were  barricaded,  and  a  steady  fire  was  maintamed 
upon  its  gate,  all  who  attempted  to  sally  into  the 
city  being  shot  down. 

It  began  to  appear  as  if  the  Spaniards  had  taken 
too  great  a  risk.  Their  peril  was  great.  Unless 
they  gained  the  town  they  must  soon  be  starved  out 
of  the  castle.  Some  of  them  declared  that  they 
could  not  hope  to  hold  the  town  even  if  they  took 
it,  and  proposed  to  sack  and  burn  the  castle  and 
make  good  their  retreat  before  the  king  of  Granada 
could  reach  them  with  his  forces. 

This  weak-hearted  counsel  was  not  to  the  taste 
of  the  valiant  Ponce  de  Leon.  "  God  has  given  us 
the  castle,"  he  said,  "  and  He  will  aid  us  in  holding 
it.  We  won  it  with  bloodshed  ;  it  would  be  a  stain 
upon  our  honor  to  abandon  it  through  fear.  We 
knew  our  peril  before  we  came ;  let  us  face  it  boldly." 

His  words  prevailed,  and  the  army  was  led  to  the 
assault,  planting  their  scaling-ladders  against  the 
walls  and  swarming  up  to  attack  the  Moors  upon 
the  ramparts.  The  Marquis  of  Cadiz,  finding  that 
the  gate  of  the  castle  was  commanded  by  the  artil- 
lery of  the  town,  ordered  a  breach  to  be  made  in  the 
wall ;  and  through  this,  sword  in  hand,  he  led  a  body 
of  troops  into  the  town.     At  the  same  time  an  as- 


THE   KEY  OP   GRANADA.  113 

sault  was  made  from  every  point,  and  the  battle 
raged  with  the  greatest  fury  at  the  ramparts  and  in 
the  streets. 

The  Moors,  who  fought  for  life,  liberty,  and  prop- 
erty, defended  themselves  with  desperation,  fighting 
in  the  streets  and  from  the  windows  and  roofs  of 
their  houses.  From  morning  until  night  the  contest 
continued  ;  then,  overpowered,  the  townsmen  sought 
shelter  in  a  large  mosque  near  the  walls,  whence 
they  kept  up  so  hot  a  flight  of  arrows  and  lances 
that  the  assailants  dared  not  approach.  Finally, 
protected  by  bucklers  and  wooden  shields,  some  of 
the  soldiers  succeeded  in  setting  fire  to  the  door  of 
the  mosque.  As  the  flames  rolled  upward  the  Moors, 
deeming  that  all  was  lost,  rushed  desperately  out. 
Many  of  them  were  killed  in  this  final  fight;  the 
rest  surrendered  as  prisoners. 

The  struggle  was  at  an  end ;  the  town  lay  at  the 
mercy  of  the  Spaniards ;  it  was  given  up  to  plunder, 
and  immense  was  the  booty  taken.  Gold  and  silver, 
rare  jewels,  rich  silks,  and  costly  goods  were  found  in 
abundance;  horses  and  cattle,  grain,  oil,  and  honey,  all 
the  productions  of  the  kingdom,  in  fact,  were  there 
in  quantities ;  for  Alhama  was  the  richest  town  in 
the  Moorish  territory,  and  from  its  strength  and 
situation  was  called  the  Key  of  Granada.  The  sol- 
diers were  not  content  with  plunder.  Thinking  that 
they  could  not  hold  the  place,  they  destroyed  all 
they  could  not  carry  away.  Huge  jars  of  oil  were 
shattered,  costly  furniture  was  demolished,  much  ma- 
terial of  the  greatest  value  was  destroyed.  In  the 
dungeons  were  found  many  of  the  Christian  cap- 

8 


114  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

tives  who  had  been  taken  at  Zahara,  and  who  gladly 
gained  their  freedom  again. 

The  loss  of  Alhama  was  a  terrible  blow  to  the 
kingdom  of  Granada.  Terror  filled  the  citizens  of 
the  capital  when  the  news  reached  that  city.  Sighs 
and  lamentations  came  from  all  sides,  the  mournful 
ejaculation,  "  Woe  is  me,  Alhama !"  was  in  every 
mouth,  and  this  afterwards  became  the  burden  of  a 
plaintive  ballad,  "  Ay  de  mi,  Alhama,''  which  remains 
among  the  gems  of  Spanish  poetry. 

Abul  Hassan,  full  of  wrath  at  the  daring  pre- 
sumption of  his  foes,  hastened  at  the  head  of  more 
than  fifty  thousand  men  against  the  city,  driving 
back  a  force  that  was  marching  to  the  aid  of  the 
Christians,  attacking  the  walls  with  the  fiercest 
fury,  and  cutting  off  the  stream  upon  which  the 
city  depended  for  water,  thus  threatening  the  de- 
fenders with  death  by  thirst.  Yet,  though  in  tor- 
ments, they  fought  with  unyielding  desperation,  and 
held  their  own  until  the  duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  a 
bitter  enemy  of  the  Marquis  of  Cadiz  in  peace,  but 
his  comrade  in  war,  came  with  a  large  army  to  his 
aid.  King  Ferdinand  was  hastening  thither  with 
all  speed,  and  the  Moorish  monarch,  after  a  last 
fierce  assault  upon  the  city,  broke  up  his  camp  and 
retreated  in  despair.  From  that  time  to  the  end  of 
the  contest  the  Christians  held  the  "  Key  of  Gra- 
nada," a  threatening  stronghold  in  the  heart  of  the 
land,  from  which  they  raided  the  vega  at  will,  and 
exhausted  the  resources  of  the  kingdom.  ^^  Ay  de 
miy  Alhama  /" 


KING  ABUL  HASSAN  AND   THE 
ALCAIDE  OF  GIBRALTAR, 


MuLEY  Abul  Hassan,  the  warlike  king  of  Gra- 
nada, weary  of  having  his  lands  raided  and  his 
towns  taken,  resolved  to  repay  the  Christians  in 
kind.  The  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia  had  driven  him 
from  captured  Aihama.  He  owed  this  mighty  noble 
a  grudge,  and  the  opportunity  to  repay  it  seemed  at 
hand.  The  duke  had  led  his  forces  to  the  aid  of  King 
Ferdinand,  who  was  making  a  foray  into  Moorish 
territory.  He  had  left  almost  unguarded  his  far- 
spreading  lands,  wide  pasture  plains  covered  thickly 
with  flocks  and  herds  and  oifering  a  rare  oppor- 
tunity for  a  hasty  foray. 

"  I  will  give  this  cavalier  a  lesson  that  will  cure 
him  of  his  love  for  campaigning,"  said  the  fierce  old 
king. 

Leaving  his  port  of  Malaga  at  the  head  of  fifteen 
hundred  horse  and  six  thousand  foot,  the  Moorish 
monarch  followed  the  sea-shore  route  to  the  border 
of  his  dominions,  entering  Christian  territory  be- 
tween Gibraltar  and  Castellar.  There  was  only  one 
man  in  this  quarter  of  whom  he  had  any  fear. 
This  was  Pedro  de  Yargas,  governor  of  Gibraltar,  a 
shrewd  and  vigilant  old  soldier,  whose  daring  Abul 
Hassan  well  knew,  but  knew  also  that  his  garrison 
was  too  small  to  serve  for  a  successful  sally. 

116 


116  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

The  alert  Moor,  however,  advanced  with  great 
caution,  sending  out  parties  to  explore  every  pass 
where  an  ambush  might  await  him,  since,  despite  his 
secrecy,  the  news  of  his  coming  might  have  gone 
before.  At  length  the  broken  country  of  Castellar 
was  traversed  and  the  plains  were  reached.  Encamp- 
ing on  the  banks  of  the  Celemin,  he  sent  four  hun- 
dred lancers  to  the  vicinity  of  Algeciras  to  keep  a 
close  watch  upon  Gibraltar  across  the  bay,  to  attack 
Pedro  if  he  sallied  out,  and  to  send  word  to  the  camp 
if  any  movement  took  place.  This  force  was  four 
times  that  said  to  be  in  Gibraltar.  Kemaining  on 
the  Celemin  with  his  main  body  of  troops.  King 
Hassan  sent  two  hundred  horsemen  to  scour  the 
plain  of  Tarifa,  and  as  many  more  to  the  lands  of 
Medina  Sidonia,  the  whole  district  being  a  rich 
pasture  land  upon  which  thousands  of  animals 
grazed. 

All  went  well.  The  parties  of  foragers  came  in, 
driving  vast  flocks  and  herds,  enough  to  replace 
those  which  had  been  swept  from  the  vega  of  Gra- 
nada by  the  foragers  of  Spain.  The  troops  on  watch 
at  Algeciras  sent  word  that  all  was  quiet  at  Gibraltar. 
Satisfied  that  for  once  Pedro  de  Vargas  had  been 
foiled,  the  old  king  called  in  his  detachments  and 
started  back  in  triumph  with  his  spoils. 

He  was  mistaken.  The  vigilant  governor  had 
been  advised  of  his  movements,  but  was  too  weak 
in  men  to  leave  his  post.  Fortunately  for  him,  a 
squadron  of  the  armed  galleys  in  the  strait  put  into 
port,  and,  their  commander  agreeing  to  take  charge 
of  Gibraltar  in  his  absence,  Pedro   sallied  out  at 


ABUL   HASSAN   AND   THE   ALCAIDE   OP   GIBRALTAR.      117 

midnight  with  seventy  of  his  men,  bent  upon  giving 
the  Moors  what  trouble  he  could. 

Sending  men  to  the  mountain-tops,  he  had  alarm 
fires  kindled  as  a  signal  to  the  peasants  that  the 
Moors  were  out  and  their  herds  in  peril.  Couriers 
were  also  despatched  at  speed  to  rouse  the  country 
and  bid  all  capable  of  bearing  arms  to  rendezvous  at 
Castellar,  a  stronghold  which  Abul  Hassan  would 
have  to  pass  on  his  return.  The  Moorish  king  saw 
the  fire  signals  and  knew  well  what  they  meant. 
Striking  his  tents,  he  began  as  hasty  a  retreat  as  his 
slow-moving  multitude  of  animals  would  permit. 
In  advance  rode  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  his  bravest 
men.  Then  came  the  great  drove  of  cattle.  In  the 
rear  marched  the  main  army,  with  Abul  Hassan  at 
its  head.  And  thus  they  moved  across  the  broken 
country  towards  Castellar. 

Near  that  place  De  Yargas  was  on  the  watch,  a 
thick  and  lofty  cloud  of  dust  revealing  to  him  the 
position  of  the  Moors.  A  half-league  of  hills  and 
declivities  separated  the  van  and  the  rear  of  the 
raiding  column,  a  long,  dense  forest  rising  between. 
De  Yargas  saw  that  they  were  in  no  position  to  aid 
each  other  quickly,  and  that  something  might  come 
of  a  sudden  and  sharp  attack.  Selecting  the  best 
fifty  of  his  small  force,  he  made  a  circuit  towards  a 
place  which  he  knew  to  be  suitable  for  ambush. 
Here  a  narrow  glen  opened  into  a  defile  with  high, 
steep  sides.  It  was  the  only  route  open  to  the  Moors, 
and  he  proposed  to  let  the  vanguard  and  the  herds 
pass  and  fall  upon  the  rear. 

The  Moors,  however,  were  on  the  alert.    While  the 


118  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

Spaniards  lay  hidden,  six  mounted  scouts  entered 
the  defile  and  rode  into  the  mouth  of  the  glen,  keenly 
looking  to  right  and  left  for  a  concealed  enemy. 
They  came  so  near  that  a  minute  or  two  more  must 
reveal  to  them  the  ambush. 

"  Let  us  kill  these  men  and  retreat  to  Gibraltar," 
said  one  of  the  Spaniards ;  "  the  infidels  are  far  too 
many  for  us." 

"I  have  come  for  larger  game  than  this,"  an- 
swered De  Yargas,  "  and,  by  the  aid  of  God  and 
Santiago,  I  will  not  go  back  without  making  my 
mark.  I  know  these  Moors,  and  will  show  you  how 
they  stand  a  sudden  charge." 

The  scouts  were  riding  deeper  into  the  glen.  The 
ambush  could  no  longer  be  concealed.  At  a  quick 
order  from  De  Vargas  ten  horsemen  rushed  so  sud- 
denly upon  them  that  four  of  their  number  were  in 
an  instant  hurled  to  the  ground.  The  other  two 
wheeled  and  rode  back  at  full  speed,  hotly  pursued 
by  the  ten  men.  Their  dashing  pace  soon  brought 
them  in  sight  of  the  vanguard  of  the  Moors,  from 
which  about  eighty  horsemen  rode  out  to  the  aid  of 
their  friends.  The  Spaniards  turned  and  clattered 
back,  with  this  force  in  sharp  pursuit.  In  a  minute 
or  two  both  parties  came  at  a  furious  rush  into  the 
glen. 

This  was  what  De  Vargas  had  foreseen.  Bidding 
his  trumpeter  to  sound,  he  dashed  from  his  conceal- 
ment at  the  head  of  his  men,  drawn  up  in  close 
array.  They  were  upon  the  Moors  almost  before 
they  were  seen,  their  weapons  making  havoc  in  the 
disordered  ranks.    The  skirmish  was  short  and  sharp. 


ABUL   HASSAN  AND   THE   ALCAIDE  OP   GIBRALTAR.      119 

The  Moors,  taken  by  surprise,  and  thrown  into  con- 
fusion, fell  rapidly,  their  ranks  being  soon  so  thinned 
that  scarce  half  of  them  turned  in  the  retreat. 

"  After  them !"  cried  De  Yargas.  "  We  will  have  a 
brush  with  the  vanguard  before  the  rear  can  come 
up." 

Onward  after  the  flying  Moors  rode  the  gallant 
fifty,  coming  with  such  force  and  furj^  on  the  ad- 
vance-guard that  many  were  overturned  in  the  first 
shock.  Those  behind  held  their  own  with  some 
firmness,  but  their  leaders,  the  alcaides  of  Marabella 
and  Casares,  being  slain,  the  line  gave  way  and  fled 
towards  the  rear-guard,  passing  through  the  droves 
of  cattle,  which  they  threw  into  utter  confusion. 

Nothing  further  could  be  done.  The  trampling 
cattle  had  filled  the  air  with  a  blinding  cloud  of 
dust.  De  Yargas  was  badly  wounded.  A  few  minutes 
might  bring  up  the  Moorish  king  with  an  over- 
whelming force.  Despoiling  the  slain,  and  taking 
with  them  some  thirty  horses,  the  victorious  Span- 
iards rode  in  triumph  back  to  Castellar. 

The  Moorish  king,  hearing  the  exaggerated  report 
of  the  fugitives,  feared  that  all  Xeres  was  up  and  in 
arms. 

"  Our  road  is  blocked,"  cried  some  of  his  officers. 
"We  had  better  abandon  the  animals  and  seek 
another  route  for  our  return." 

"Not  so,"  cried  the  old  king;  "no  true  soldier 
gives  up  his  booty  without  a  blow.  Follow  me; 
we  will  have  a  brush  with  these  dogs  of  Christians." 

In  hot  haste  he  galloped  onward,  right  through 
the  centre  of  the  herd,  driving  the  cattle  to  right 


120  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

and  left.  On  reaching  the  field  of  battle  he  found 
no  Spaniard  in  sight,  but  dozens  of  his  own  men  lay 
dead  and  despoiled,  among  them  the  two  alcaides. 
The  sight  filled  the  warlike  old  king  with  rage. 
Confident  that  his  foes  had  taken  refuge  in  Castel- 
lar,  he  rode  on  to  that  place,  set  fire  to  two  houses 
near  its  walls,  and  sent  a  shower  of  arrows  into  its 
streets.  Pedro  de  Yargas  was  past  taking  to  horse, 
but  he  ordered  his  men  to  make  a  sally,  and  a  sharp 
skirmish  took  place  under  the  walls.  In  the  end  the 
king  drew  off  to  the  scene  of  the  fight,  buried  the 
dead  except  the  alcaides,  whose  bodies  were  laid  on 
mules  to  be  interred  at  Malaga,  and,  gathering  the 
scattered  herds,  drove  them  past  the  walls  of  Cas- 
tellar  by  way  of  taunting  the  Christian  foe. 

Yet  the  stern  old  Moorish  warrior  could  thoroughly 
appreciate  valor  and  daring  even  in  an  enemy. 

"  What  are  the  revenues  of  the  alcaide  of  Gibral- 
tar?" he  asked  of  two  Christian  captives  he  had 
taken. 

"We  know  not,"  they  replied,  "except  that  he  is 
entitled  to  one  animal  out  of  every  drove  of  cattle 
that  passes  his  bounds." 

"  Then  Allah  forbid  that  so  brave  a  cavalier  should 
be  defrauded  of  his  dues." 

He  gave  orders  to  select  twelve  of  the  finest  cattle 
from  the  twelve  droves  that  formed  the  herd  of  spoil, 
and  directed  that  they  should  be  delivered  to  Pedro 
de  Yargas. 

"  Tell  him,"  said  the  king,  "that  I  beg  his  pardon 
for  not  sending  these  cattle  sooner,  but  have  just 
learned  they  are  his  dues,  and  hasten  to  satisfy 


ABUL   HASSAN   AND   THE   ALCAIDE   OF   GIBRALTAR.      121 

them  in  courtesy  to  so  worthy  a  cavalier.  Tell 
him,  at  the  same  time,  that  I  did  not  know  the 
alcaide  of  Gibraltar  was  so  vigilant  in  collecting  his 
tolls." 

The  soldierly  pleasantry  of  the  old  king  was  much 
to  the  taste  of  the  brave  De  Yargas,  and  called  for 
a  worthy  return.  He  bade  his  men  deliver  a  rich 
silken  vest  and  a  scarlet  mantle  to  the  messenger, 
to  be  presented  to  the  Moorish  king. 

"  Tell  his  majesty,"  he  said,  "  that  I  kiss  his  hands 
for  the  honor  he  has  done  me,  and  regret  that  my 
scanty  force  was  not  fitted  to  give  him  a  more  signal 
reception.  Had  three  hundred  horsemen,  whom  I 
have  been  promised  from  Xeres,  arrived  in  time,  I 
might  have  served  him  up  an  entertainment  more 
befitting  his  station.  They  may  arrive  during  the 
night,  in  which  case  his  majesty,  the  king,  may  look 
for  a  royal  service  in  the  morning." 

"  Allah  preserve  us,"  cried  the  king,  on  receiving 
this  message,  "  from  a  brush  with  these  hard  riders 
of  Xeres !  A  handful  of  troops  familiar  with  these 
wild  mountain-passes  may  destroy  an  army  encum- 
bered like  ours  with  booty." 

It  was  a  relief  to  the  king  to  find  that  De  Yargas 
was  too  sorely  wounded  to  take  the  field  in  person. 
A  man  like  him  at  the  head  of  an  adequate  force  might 
have  given  no  end  of  trouble.  During  the  day  the 
retreat  was  pushed  with  all  speed,  the  herds  being 
driven  with  such  haste  that  they  were  frequently 
broken  and  scattered  among  the  mountain  defiles, 
the  result  being  that  more  than  five  thousand  cattle 
were  lost,  being  gathered  up  again  by  the  Christians. 


122  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

The  king  returned  triumpliantly  to  Malaga  with  the 
remainder,  rejoicing  in  his  triumph  over  the  Duke 
of  Medina  Sidonia,  and  having  taught  King  Ferdi- 
nand that  the  game  of  ravaging  an  enemy's  country 
was  one  at  which  two  could  play. 


THE  RIVAL  KINGS  OF  GRANADA. 

"  In  the  hand  of  God  is  the  destiny  of  princes. 
He  alone  giveth  empire,"  piously  says  an  old  Arabian 
chronicler,  and  goes  on  with  the  following  story: 
A  Moorish  horseman,  mounted  on  a  fleet  Arabian 
steed,  was  one  day  traversing  the  mountains  which 
extend  between  Granada  and  the  frontier  of  Murcia. 
He  galloped  swiftly  through  the  valleys,  but  paused 
and  gazed  cautiously  from  the  summit  of  every 
height.  A  squadron  of  cavaliers  followed  warily  at 
a  distance.  There  were  fifty  lances.  The  richness 
of  their  armor  and  attire  showed  them  to  be  war- 
riors of  noble  rank,  and  their  leader  had  a  lofty  and 
prince-like  demeanor. 

For  two  nights  and  a  day  the  cavalcade  made  its 
way  through  that  rugged  country,  avoiding  settled 
places  and  choosing  the  most  solitary  passes  of  the 
mountains.  Their  hardships  were  severe,  but  cam- 
paigning was  their  trade  and  their  horses  were  of 
generous  spirit.  It  was  midnight  when  they  left 
the  hills  and  rode  through  darkness  and  silence  to 
the  city  of  Granada,  under  the  shadows  of  whose 
high  walls  they  passed  to  the  gate  of  the  Albaycin. 
Here  the  leader  ordered  his  followers  to  halt  and 
remain  concealed.  Taking  four  or  five  with  him, 
he  advanced  to  the  gate  and  struck  upon  it  with  the 
handle  of  his  scimitar. 

123 


124  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

"  Who  is  it  knocks  at  this  unseasonable  hour  of 
the  night?"  demanded  the  warder  within. 

"  Your  king,"  was  the  answer.  "  Open  and  admit 
him." 

Opening  a  wicket,  the  warder  held  forth  a  light 
and  looked  at  the  man  without.  Recognizing  him 
at  a  glance,  he  opened  the  gate,  and  the  cavalier, 
who  had  feared  a  less  favorable  reception,  rode  in 
with  his  followers  and  galloped  in  haste  to  the  hill 
of  the  Albaycin,  where  the  new-comers  knocked 
loudly  at  the  doors  of  the  principal  dwellings,  bid- 
ding their  tenants  to  rise  and  take  arms  for  their 
lawful  sovereign.  The  summons  was  obeyed.  Trum- 
pets soon  resounded  in  the  streets;  the  gleam  of 
torches  lit  the  dark  avenues  and  flashed  upon  naked 
steel.  From  right  and  left  the  Moors  came  hurrying 
to  the  rendezvous.  By  daybreak  the  whole  force 
of  the  Albaycin  was  under  arms,  ready  to  meet  in 
battle  the  hostile  array  on  the  opposite  height  of 
the  Alhambra. 

To  tell  what  this  midnight  movement  meant  we 
must  go  back  a  space  in  history.  The  conquest  of 
Granada  was  not  due  to  Ferdinand  and  the  Span- 
iards alone.  It  was  greatly  aided  by  the  dissensions 
of  the  Moors,  who  were  divided  into  two  parties  and 
fought  bitterly  with  each  other  during  their  inter- 
vals of  truce  with  the  Christians.  Ferdinand  won 
in  the  game  largely  by  a  shrewd  playing  off  of  one 
of  these  factions  against  the  other  and  by  taking 
advantage  of  the  weakness  and  vacillation  of  the 
young  king,  whose  clandestine  entrance  to  the  city 
we  have  just  seen. 


THE  RIVAL   KINGS   OF   GRANADA.  125 

Boabdil  el  Chico,  or  Boabdil  the  Young,  as  he  was 
called,  was  the  son  of  Muley  Abul  Hassan,  against 
whom  he  had  rebelled,  and  with  such  effect  that, 
after  a  bloody  battle  in  the  streets  of  the  city,  the 
old  king  was  driven  without  its  walls.  His  tyranny 
had  caused  the  people  to  gather  round  his  son. 

From  that  time  forward  there  was  dissension  and 
civil  war  in  Granada,  and  the  quarrels  of  its  kings 
paved  the  way  for  the  downfall  of  the  state.  The 
country  was  divided  into  the  two  factions  of  the 
young  and  the  old  kings.  In  the  city  the  hill  of  the 
Albaycin,  with  its  fortress  of  the  Alcazaba,  was  the 
stronghold  of  Boabdil,  while  the  partisans  of  Abul 
Hassan  dwelt  on  the  height  of  the  Alhambra,  the 
lower  town  between  being  the  battle-ground  of  the 
rival  factions. 

The  succeeding  events  were  many,  but  must  be 
told  in  few  words.  King  Boabdil,  to  show  his  prow- 
ess to  the  people,  marched  over  the  border  to  attack 
the  city  of  Lucena.  As  a  result  he  was  himself  as- 
sailed, his  army  put  to  the  rout,  and  himself  taken 
prisoner  by  the  forces  of  Ferdinand  of  Aragon.  To 
regain  his  liberty  he  acknowledged  himself  a  vassal 
of  the  Spanish  monarch,  to  whom  he  agreed  to  pay 
tribute.  On  his  release  he  made  his  way  to  the  city 
of  Granada,  but  his  adherents  were  so  violently  as- 
sailed by  those  of  his  father  that  the  streets  of  the 
city  ran  blood,  and  Boabdil  the  Unlucky,  as  he  was 
now  called,  found  it  advisable  to  leave  the  capital 
and  fix  his  residence  in  Almeria,  a  large  and  splendid 
city  whose  people  were  devoted  to  him. 

As  the  years  went  on  Muley  Abul  Hassan  became 


126  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

sadly  stricken  with  age.  He  grew  nearly  blind  and 
was  bed-ridden  with  paralysis.  His  brother  Abdal- 
lah,  known  as  El  Zagal,  or  "  The  Yaliant,"  comman- 
der-in-chief of  the  Moorish  armies,  assumed  his  duties 
as  a  sovereign,  and  zealously  took  up  the  quarrel 
with  his  son.  He  attempted  to  surprise  the  young 
king  at  Almeria,  drove  him  out  as  a  fugitive,  and 
took  possession  of  that  city.  At  a  later  date  he 
endeavored  to  remove  him  by  poison.  It  was  this 
attempt  that  spurred  Boabdil  to  the  enterprise  we 
have  just  described.  El  Zagal  was  now  full  king  in 
Granada,  holding  the  Alhambra  as  his  palace,  and 
his  nephew,  who  had  been  a  wanderer  since  his  flight 
from  Almeria,  was  instigated  to  make  a  bold  stroke 
for  the  throne. 

On  the  day  after  the  secret  return  of  Boabdil 
battle  raged  in  the  streets  of  Granada,  a  fierce  en- 
counter taking  place  between  the  two  kings  in  the 
square  before  the  principal  mosque.  Hand  to  hand 
they  fought  with  the  greatest  fury  till  separated  by 
the  charges  of  their  followers. 

For  days  the  conflict  went  on,  death  and  turmoil 
ruling  in  Granada,  such  hatred  existing  between  the 
two  factions  that  neither  side  gave  quarter.  Boabdil 
was  the  weaker  in  men.  Fearing  defeat  in  conse- 
quence, he  sent  a  messenger  to  Don  Fadrique  de 
Toledo,  the  Christian  commander  on  the  border,  ask- 
ing for  assistance.  Don  Fadrique  had  been  in- 
structed by  Ferdinand  to  give  what  aid  he  could  to 
the  young  king,  the  vassal  of  Spain,  and  responded 
to  Boabdil's  request  by  marching  with  a  body  of 
troops  to  the  vicinity  of  Granada.     No  sooner  had 


KING  CHARLES'S  WELL,   ALHAMBRA. 


r 


THE   RIVAL   KINGS   OF   GRANADA.  127 


Boabdil  seen  their  advancing  banners  than  he  sallied 
forth  with  a  squadron  to  meet  them.  El  Zagal,  who 
was  equally  on  the  alert,  sallied  forth  at  the  same 
time,  and  drew  up  his  troops  in  battle  array. 

The  wary  Don  Fadrique,  in  doubt  as  to  the  mean- 
ing of  this  double  movement,  and  fearing  treachery, 
halted  at  a  safe  distance,  and  drew  off  for  the  night 
to  a  secure  situation.  Early  the  next  morning  a 
Moorish  cavalier  approached  the  sentinels  and  asked 
for  an  audience  with  Don  Fadrique,  as  an  envoy  from 
El  Zagal.  The  Christian  troops,  he  said  on  behalf 
of  the  old  king,  had  come  to  aid  his  nephew,  but  he 
was  ready  to  offer  them  an  alliance  on  better  terms 
than  those  of  Boabdil.  Don  Fadrique  listened  cour- 
teously to  the  envoy,  but  for  better  assurance,  de- 
termined to  send  a  representative  to  El  Zagal  him- 
self, under  protection  of  a  flag.  For  this  purpose  he 
selected  Don  Juan  de  Yera,  one  of  the  most  intrepid 
and  discreet  of  his  cavaliers,  who  had  in  ^^ears  before 
been  sent  by  King  Ferdinand  on  a  mission  to  the 
Alhambra. 

Don  Juan,  on  reaching  the  palace,  was  well  re- 
ceived by  the  old  king,  holding  an  interview  with 
him  which  extended  so  far  into  the  night  that  it 
was  too  late  to  return  to  camp,  and  he  was  lodged 
in  a  sumptuous  apartment  of  the  Alhambra.  In  the 
morning  he  was  approached  by  one  of  the  Moorish 
courtiers,  a  man  given  to  jest  and  satire,  who  invited 
him  to  take  part  in  a  ceremony  in  the  palace  mosque. 
This  invitation,  given  in  jest,  was  received  by  the 
punctilious  Catholic  knight  in  earnest,  and  he  re- 
plied, with  stern  displeasure, — 


128  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

"  The  servants  of  Queen  Isabella  of  Castile,  who 
bear  on  their  armor  the  cross  of  St.  lago,  never 
enter  the  temples  of  Mohammed,  except  to  level  them 
to  the  earth  and  trample  on  them." 

This  discourteous  reply  was  repeated  by  the  cour- 
tier to  a  renegade,  who,  having  newly  adopted  the 
Moorish  faith,  was  eager  to  show  his  devotion  to  the 
Moslem  creed,  and  proposed  to  engage  the  stiff- 
necked  Catholic  knight  in  argument.  Seeking  Don 
Juan,  they  found  him  playing  chess  with  the  alcaide 
of  the  palace,  and  the  renegade  at  once  began  to 
comment  on  the  Christian  religion  in  uncompli- 
mentary terms.  Don  Juan  was  quick  to  anger,  but 
he  restrained  himself,  and  replied,  with  grave  se- 
verity, — 

"  You  would  do  well  to  cease  talking  about  what 
you  do  not  understand." 

The  renegade  and  his  jesting  companion  replied 
in  a  series  of  remarks  intended  as  wit,  thoagh  full 
of  insolence,  Don  Juan  fuming  inwardly  as  he  con- 
tinued to  play.  In  the  end  they  went  too  far,  the 
courtier  making  an  obscene  comparison  between  the 
Virgin  Mary  and  Amina,  the  mother  of  Mohammed. 
In  an  instant  the  old  knight  sprang  up,  white  with 
rage,  and  dashing  aside  chess-board  and  chessmen. 
Drawing  his  sword,  he  dealt  such  a  ^^hermosa  cuchi- 
lladd"  ("  handsome  slash")  across  the  head  of  the 
offending  Moor  as  to  stretch  him  bleeding  on  the 
floor.  The  renegade  fled  in  terror,  rousing  the 
echoes  of  the  palace  with  his  outcries  and  stirring 
up  guards  and  attendants,  who  rushed  into  the  room 
where  the  irate  Christian  stood  sword  in  hand  defy- 


THE  RIVAL   KINGS   OF   GRANADA.  129 

ing  Mohammed  and  his  hosts.  The  alarm  quickly- 
reached  the  ears  of  the  king,  who  hurried  to  the 
scene,  his  appearance  at  once  restoring  order.  On 
hearing  from  the  alcaide  the  cause  of  the  affray,  he 
acted  with  becoming  dignity,  ordering  the  guards 
from  the  room  and  directing  that  the  renegade 
should  be  severely  punished  for  daring  to  infringe 
the  hospitality  of  the  palace  and  insult  an  em- 
bassador. 

Don  Juan,  his  quick  fury  evaporated,  sheathed  his 
sword,  thanked  the  king  for  his  courtesy,  and  pro- 
posed a  return  to  the  camp.  But  this  was  not  easy 
of  accomplishment.  A  garbled  report  of  the  tumult 
in  the  palace  had  spread  to  the  streets,  where  it  was 
rumored  that  Christian  spies  had  been  introduced  into 
the  palace  with  treasonable  intent.  In  a  brief  time 
hundreds  of  the  populace  were  in  arms  and  throng- 
ing about  the  gate  of  Justice  of  the  Alhambra, 
where  they  loudly  demanded  the  death  of  all  Chris- 
tians in  the  palace  and  of  all  who  had  introduced 
them. 

It  was  impossible  for  Don  Juan  to  leave  the  palace 
by  the  route  he  had  followed  on  his  arrival.  The 
infuriated  mob  would  have  torn  him  to  pieces.  But 
it  was  important  that  he  should  depart  at  once.  All 
that  El  Zagal  could  do  was  to  furnish  him  with  a 
disguise,  a  swift  horse,  and  an  escort,  and  to  let  him 
out  of  the  Alhambra  by  a  private  gate.  This  secret 
mode  of  departure  was  not  relished  by  the  proud 
Spaniard,  but  life  was  just  then  of  more  value  than 
dignity,  as  he  appreciated  when,  in  Moorish  dress, 
he  passed  through  crowds  who  were  thirsting  for 

9 


130  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

his  blood.  A  gate  of  the  city  was  at  length  reached, 
and  Don  Juan  and  his  escort  rode  quietly  out.  But 
he  was  no  sooner  on  the  open  plain  than  he  spurred 
his  horse  to  its  speed,  and  did  not  draw  rein  until 
the  banners  of  Don  Fadrique  waved  above  his  head. 

Don  Fadrique  heard  with  much  approval  of  the 
boldness  of  his  envoy.  His  opinion  of  Don  Juan's 
discretion  he  kept  to  himself.  He  rewarded  him 
with  a  valuable  horse,  and  wrote  a  letter  of  thanks 
to  El  Zagal  for  his  protection  to  his  emissary.  Queen 
Isabella,  on  learning  how  stoutly  the  knight  had 
stood  up  for  the  supremacy  of  the  Blessed  Yirgin, 
was  highly  delighted,  and  conferred  several  distinc- 
tions of  honor  upon  the  cavalier  besides  presenting 
him  with  three  hundred  thousand  maravedis. 

The  outcome  of  the  advances  of  the  two  kings  was 
that  Don  Fadrique  chose  Boabdil  as  his  ally,  and 
sent  him  a  reinforcement  of  foot-soldiers  and  arque- 
busiers.  This  introduction  of  Christians  into  the 
city  rekindled  the  flames  of  war,  and  it  continued  to 
rage  in  the  streets  for  the  space  of  fifty  days. 

The  result  of  the  struggle  between  the  two  kings 
may  be  briefly  told.  While  they  contended  for  su- 
premacy Ferdinand  of  Aragon  invaded  their  king- 
dom with  a  large  army  and  marched  upon  the  great 
seaport  of  Malaga.  El  Zagal  sought  an  accommo- 
dation with  Boabdil,  that  they  might  unite  their 
forces  against  the  common  foe,  but  the  short-sighted 
young  man  spurned  his  overtures  with  disdain.  El 
Zagal  then,  the  better  patriot  of  the  two,  marched 
himself  against  the  Christian  host,  hoping  to  sur- 
prise them  in  the  passes  of  the  mountains  and  per- 


THE   RIVAL   KINGS  OF   GRANADA.  131 

haps  capture  King  Ferdinand  himself.  Unluckily 
for  him,  his  well-laid  plan  was  discovered  by  the 
Christians,  who  attacked  and  defeated  him,  his 
troops  flying  in  uncontrollable  disorder. 

The  news  of  this  disaster  reached  Granada  before 
him  and  infuriated  the  people,  who  closed  their  gates 
and  threatened  the  defeated  king  from  the  walls. 
IS'othing  remained  to  El  Zagal  but  to  march  to  Al- 
meria  and  establish  his  court  in  that  city  in  which 
Boabdil  had  formerly  reigned.  Thus  the  positions 
of  the  rival  kings  became  reversed.  From  that  time 
forward  the  kingdom  of  Granada  was  divided  into 
two,  and  the  work  of  conquest  by  the  Christians 
was  correspondingly  reduced. 


THE  KNIGHT  OF  THE  EXPLOITS. 

The  dull  monotony  of  sieges,  of  which  there  were 
many  during  the  war  with  Granada,  was  little  to 
the  taste  of  the  valorous  Spanish  cavaliers.  They 
burned  for  adventure,  and  were  ever  ready  for  daring 
exploits,  the  more  welcome  the  more  dangerous  they 
promised  to  be.  One  day  during  the  siege  of  Baza, 
a  strong  city  in  El  Zagal's  dominions,  two  of  these 
spirited  young  cavaliers,  Francisco  de  Bazan  and 
Antonio  de  Cueva,  were  seated  on  the  ramparts  of 
the  siege  works,  bewailing  the  dull  life  to  which 
they  were  confined.  They  were  overheard  by  a 
veteran  scout,  who  was  familiar  with  the  surround- 
ing country. 

"  Senors,"  he  said,  "  if  you  pine  for  peril  and  profit 
and  are  eager  to  pluck  the  beard  of  the  fiery  old 
Moorish  king,  I  can  lead  you  where  you  will  have  a 
fine  opportunity  to  prove  your  valor.  There  are 
certain  hamlets  not  far  from  the  walls  of  El  Zagal's 
city  of  Guadix  where  rich  booty  awaits  the  daring 
raider.  I  can  lead  you  there  by  a  way  that  will 
enable  you  to  take  them  by  surprise ;  and  if  you  are 
as  cool  in  the  head  as  you  are  hot  in  the  spur  you 
may  bear  off  spoils  from  under  the  very  eyes  of  the 
king  of  the  Moors." 

He  had  struck  the  right  vein.  The  youths  were 
at  once  hot  for  the  enterprise.  To  win  booty  from 
132 


THE   KNIGHT  OF  THE   EXPLOITS.  133 

the  very  gates  of  Giiadix  was  a  stirring  scheme,  and 
they  quickly  found  others  of  their  age  as  eager  as 
themselves  for  the  daring  adventure.  In  a  short 
time  they  had  enrolled  a  body  of  nearly  three  hun- 
dred horse  and  two  hundred  foot,  well  armed  and 
equipped,  and  every  man  of  them  ready  for  the  road. 

The  force  obtained,  the  raiders  left  the  camp  early 
one  evening,  keeping  their  destination  secret,  and 
made  their  way  by  starlight  through  the  mountain 
passes,  led  by  the  adalid,  or  guide.  Pressing  rapidly 
onward  by  day  and  night,  they  reached  the  hamlets 
one  morning  just  before  daybreak,  and  fell  on  them 
suddenly,  making  prisoners  of  the  inhabitants,  sack- 
ing the  houses,  and  sweeping  the  fields  of  their 
grazing  herds.  Then,  without  taking  a  moment  to 
rest,  they  set  out  with  all  speed  for  the  mountains, 
which  they  hoped  to  reach  before  the  country  could 
be  roused. 

Several  of  the  herdsmen  had  escaped  and  fled  to 
Guadix,  where  they  told  El  Zagal  of  the  daring  rav- 
age. Wild  with  rage  at  the  insult,  the  old  king  at 
once  sent  out  six  hundred  of  his  choicest  horse  and 
foot,  with  orders  for  swift  pursuit,  bidding  them  to 
recover  the  booty  and  bring  him  as  prisoners  the 
insolent  marauders.  The  Christians,  weary  with 
their  two  days  and  nights  of  hard  marching,  were 
driving  the  captured  cattle  and  sheep  up  a  mountain- 
side, when,  looking  back,  they  saw  a  great  cloud  of 
dust  upon  their  trail.  Soon  they  discerned  the  tur- 
baned  host,  evidently  superior  to  them  in  number, 
and  man  and  horse  in  fresh  condition. 

"  They  are  too  much  for  us,"  cried  some  of  the 


134  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

horsemen.  "  It  would  be  madness  in  our  worn-out 
state  to  face  a  fresh  force  of  that  number.  We  shall 
have  to  let  the  cattle  go  and  seek  safety  in  flight." 

"  What !"  cried  Antonio  and  Francisco,  their 
leaders ;  "  abandon  our  prey  without  a  blow  ?  De- 
sert our  foot-soldiers  and  leave  them  to  the  enemy  ? 
Did  any  of  you  think  El  Zagal  would  let  us  off  with- 
out a  brush  ?  You  do  not  give  good  Spanish  coun- 
self  for  every  soldier  knows  that  there  is  less  danger 
in  presenting  our  faces  than  our  backs  to  the  foe, 
and  fewer  men  are  killed  in  a  brave  advance  than  in 
a  cowardly  retreat." 

Some  of  the  cavaliers  were  affected  by  these  words, 
but  the  mass  of  the  party  were  chance  volunteers, 
who  received  no  pay  and  had  nothing  to  gain  by 
risking  their  lives.  Consequently,  as  the  enemy  came 
near,  the  diversity  of  opinions  grew  into  a  tumult, 
and  confusion  reigned.  The  captains  ordered  the 
standard-bearer  to  advance  against  the  Moors,  confi- 
dent that  any  true  soldiers  would  follow  his  banner. 
He  hesitated  to  obey;  the  turmoil  increased;  in  a 
moment  more  the  horsemen  might  be  in  full  flight. 

At  this  critical  juncture  a  horseman  of  the  royal 
guards  rode  forward, — the  good  knight  Hernan  Perez 
del  Pulgar,  governor  of  the  fortress  of  Salar.  Taking 
off  the  handkerchief  which,  in  the  Andalusian  fash- 
ion, he  wore  round  his  head,  he  tied  it  to  a  lance  and 
raised  it  in  the  air. 

"  Comrades,"  he  cried,  "  why  do  you  load  yourself 
with  arms  if  you  trust  for  safety  to  your  feet  ?  We 
shall  see  who  among  you  are  the  brave  men  and  who 
are  the  cowards.     If  it  is  a  standard  you  want,  here 


THE  KNIGHT  OP  THE  EXPLOITS.  135 

is  mine.  Let  the  man  who  has  the  heart  to  fight 
follow  this  handkerchief." 

Waving  his  improvised  banner,  he  spurred  against 
the  Moors.  Many  followed  him.  Those  who  at  first 
held  back  soon  joined  the  advance.  With  one  accord 
the  whole  body  rushed  with  shouts  upon  the  enemy. 
The  Moors,  who  were  now  close  at  hand,  were  seized 
with  surprise  and  alarm  at  this  sudden  charge.  The 
foremost  files  turned  and  fled  in  panic,  followed  by 
the  others,  and  pursued  by  the  Christians,  who  cut 
them  down  without  a  blow  in  return.  Soon  the 
whole  body  was  in  full  flight.  Several  hundred  of 
the  Moors  were  killed  and  their  bodies  despoiled, 
many  were  taken  prisoners,  and  the  Christians  re- 
turned in  triumph  to  the  army,  driving  their  long 
array  of  cattle  and  sheep  and  of  mules  laden  with 
booty,  and  bearing  in  their  front  the  standard  under 
which  they  bad  fought. 

King  Ferdinand  was  so  delighted  with  this  ex- 
ploit, and  in  particular  with  the  gallant  action  of 
Perez  del  Pulgar,  that  he  conferred  knighthood  upon 
the  latter  with  much  ceremony,  and  authorized  him 
to  bear  upon  his  escutcheon  a  golden  lion  in  an  azure 
field,  showing  a  lance  with  a  handkerchief  at  its 
point.  Eound  its  border  were  to  be  depicted  the 
eleven  alcaides  defeated  in  the  battle.  This  heroic 
deed  was  followed  by  so  many  others  during  the  wars 
with  the  Moors  that  Perez  del  Pulgar  became  in  time 
known  by  the  flattering  appellation  of  "  He  of  the 
exploits." 

The  most  famous  exploit  of  this  daring  knight 
took  place  during  the  siege  of  Granada, — the  final 


136  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

operation  of  the  long  war.  Here  single  combats  and 
minor  skirmishes  between  Christian  and  Moorish 
cavaliers  were  of  almost  daily  occurrence,  until  Fer- 
dinand strictly  forbade  all  such  tilts,  as  he  saw  that 
they  gave  zeal  and  courage  to  the  Moors,  and  were 
attended  with  considerable  loss  of  life  among  his 
bravest  followers. 

This  edict  of  the  king  was  very  distasteful  to  the 
fiery  Moorish  knights,  who  declared  that  the  crafty 
Christian  wished  to  destroy  chivalry  and  put  an  end 
to  heroic  valor.  They  did  their  best  to  provoke  the 
Spanish  knights  to  combat,  galloping  on  their  fleet 
steeds  close  to  the  borders  of  the  camp  and  hurling 
their  lances  over  the  barriers,  each  lance  bearing  the 
name  of  its  owner  with  some  defiant  message.  But 
despite  the  irritation  caused  by  these  insults  to  the 
Spanish  knights,  none  of  them  ventured  to  disobey 
the  mandate  of  the  king. 

Chief  among  these  Moorish  cavaliers  was  one 
named  Tarfe,  a  man  of  fierce  and  daring  spirit  and 
a  giant  in  size,  who  sought  to  surpass  his  fellows  in 
acts  of  audacity.  In  one  of  his  sallies  towards  the 
Christian  camp  this  bold  cavalier  leaped  his  steed 
over  the  barrier,  galloped  inward  close  to  the  royal 
quarters,  and  launched  his  spear  with  such  strength 
that  it  quivered  in  the  earth  close  to  the  tents  of 
the  sovereigns.  The  royal  guards  rushed  out,  but 
Tarfe  was  already  far  away,  scouring  the  plain  on  his 
swift  Barbary  steed.  On  examining  the  lance  it  was 
found  to  bear  a  label  indicating  that  it  was  intended 
for  the  queen,  who  was  present  in  the  camp. 

This  bravado  and  the  insult  offered  Queen  Isabella 


THE  KNIGHT  OP  THE  EXPLOITS.  137 

excited  the  highest  indignation  among  the  Christian 
warriors.  "  Shall  we  let  this  insolent  fellow  outdo 
us?"  said  Perez  del  Pulgar,  who  was  present.  "1 
propose  to  teach  these  insolent  Moors  a  lesson.  Who 
will  stand  by  me  in  an  enterprise  of  desperate  peril  ?" 
The  warriors  knew  Pulgar  well  enough  to  be  sure 
that  his  promise  of  peril  was  likely  to  be  kept,  yet 
all  who  heard  him  were  ready  to  volunteer.  Out 
of  them  he  chose  fifteen, — men  whom  he  knew  he 
could  trust  for  strength  of  arm  and  valor  of  heart. 

His  proposed  enterprise  was  indeed  a  perilous  one. 
A  Moorish  renegade  had  agreed  to  guide  him  into 
the  city  by  a  secret  pass.  Once  within,  they  were 
to  set  fire  to  the  Alcaiceria  and  others  of  the  princi- 
pal buildings,  and  then  escape  as  best  they  could. 

At  dead  of  night  they  set  out,  provided  with  the 
necessary  combustibles.  Their  guide  led  them  up  a 
channel  of  the  river  Darro,  until  they  halted  under 
a  bridge  near  the  royal  gate.  Here  Pulgar  stationed 
six  of  his  followers  on  guard,  bidding  them  to  keep 
silent  and  motionless.  With  the  others  he  made  his 
way  up  a  drain  of  the  stream  which  passed  under  a 
part  of  the  city  and  opened  into  the  streets.  All 
was  dark  and  silent.  Not  a  soul  moved.  The  rene- 
gade, at  the  command  of  Pulgar,  led  the  adventurers 
to  the  principal  mosque.  Here  the  pious  cavalier 
drew  from  under  his  cloak  a  parchment  inscribed  in 
large  letters  with  Ave  Maria,  and  nailed  this  to  the 
door  of  the  mosque,  thus  dedicating  the  heathen 
temple  to  the  Yirgin  Mary. 

They  now  hurried  to  the  Alcaiceria,  where  the 
combustibles  were  placed  ready  to  fire.     Not  until 


138  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

this  moment  was  it  discovered  that  the  torch-bearer 
had  carelessly  left  bis  torch  at  the  door  of  the 
mosque.  It  was  too  late  to  return.  Pulgar  sought 
to  strike  fire  with  flint  and  steel,  but  while  doing  so 
the  Moorish  guard  came  upon  them  in  its  rounds. 
Drawing  his  sword  and  followed  by  his  comrades, 
the  bold  Spaniard  made  a  tierce  assault  upon  the 
astonished  Moors,  quickly  putting  them  to  flight. 
But  the  enterprise  was  at  an  end.  The  alarm  was 
given  and  soldiers  were  soon  hurrying  in  every  di- 
rection through  the  streets.  Guided  by  the  rene- 
gade, Pulgar  and  his  companions  hastened  to  the 
drain  by  which  they  had  entered,  plunged  into  it, 
and  reached  their  companions  under  the  bridge. 
Here  mounting  their  horses,  they  rode  back  to  the 
camp. 

The  Moors  were  at  a  loss  to  imagine  the  purpose 
of  this  apparently  fruitless  enterprise,  but  wild  was 
their  exasperation  the  next  morning  when  they 
found  the  "  Ave  Maria"  on  the  door  of  a  mosque  in 
the  centre  of  their  city.  The  mosque  thus  sanctified 
by  Perez  del  Pulgar  was  actually  converted  into  a 
Christian  cathedral  after  the  capture  of  the  city. 

"We  have  yet  to  describe  the  sequel  of  this  ex- 
ploit. On  the  succeeding  day  a  powerful  train  left 
the  Christian  camp  and  advanced  towards  the  city 
walls.  In  its  centre  were  the  king  and  queen,  the 
prince  and  princesses,  and  the  ladies  of  the  court, 
surrounded  by  the  royal  body-guard, — a  richly 
dressed  troop,  composed  of  the  sons  of  the  most 
illustrious  families  of  Spain.  The  Moors  gazed  with 
wonder  upon  this   rare  pageant,  which  moved  in 


I 


THE   KNIGHT  OP  THE   EXPLOITS.  139 

glittering  array  across  the  vega  to  the  sound  of 
martial  music;  a  host  brilliant  with  banners  and 
plumes,  shining  arms  and  shimmering  silks,  for  the 
court  and  the  army  moved  there  hand  in  hand. 
Queen  Isabella  had  expressed  a  wish  to  see,  nearer 
at  hand,  a  city  whose  beauty  was  of  world-wide  re- 
nown, and  the  Marquis  of  Cadiz  had  drawn  out  this 
powerful  escort  that  she  might  be  gratified  in  her 
desire.  The  queen  had  her  wish,  but  hundreds  of 
men  died  that  she  might  be  pleased. 

While  the  royal  dame  and  her  ladies  were  gazing 
with  delight  on  the  red  towers  of  the  Alhambra, 
rising  in  rich  contrast  through  the  green  verdure  of 
their  groves,  a  large  force  of  Moorish  cavalry  poured 
from  the  city  gates,  ready  to  accept  the  gage  of 
battle  which  the  Christians  seemed  to  offer.  The 
first  to  come  were  a  host  of  richly  armed  and  gayly 
attired  light  cavalry,  mounted  on  fleet  and  fiery 
Barbary  steeds.  Heavily  armed  cavalry  followed, 
and  then  a  strong  force  of  foot- soldiers,  until  an 
army  was  drawn  up  on  the  plain.  Queen  Isabella 
saw  this  display  with  disquiet,  and  forbade  an  at- 
tack upon  the  enemy,  or  even  a  skirmish,  as  it  would 
pain  her  if  a  single  warrior  should  lose  his  life 
through  the  indulgence  of  her  curiosity. 

As  a  result,  though  the  daring  Moorish  horsemen 
rode  fleetly  along  the  Christian  front,  brandishing 
their  lances,  and  defying  the  cavaliers  to  mortal 
combat,  not  a  Spaniard  stirred.  The  cavaliers  were 
under  the  eyes  of  Ferdinand,  by  whom  such  duels 
had  been  strictly  forbidden.  At  length,  however, 
they  were  incensed  beyond  their  powers  of  resist- 


140  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

ance.  Forth  from  the  city  rode  a  stalwart  Moorish 
horseman,  clad  in  steel  armor,  and  bearing  a  huge 
buckler  and  a  ponderous  lance.  His  device  showed 
him  to  be  the  giant  warrior  Tarfe,  the  daring  infidel 
who  had  flung  his  lance  at  the  queen's  tent.  As  he 
rode  out  he  was  followed  by  the  shouts  and  laughter 
of  a  mob,  and  when  he  came  within  full  view  of  the 
Spanish  army  the  cavaliers  saw,  with  indignant 
horror,  tied  to  his  horse's  tail  and  dragging  in  the 
dust,  the  parchment  with  its  inscription  of  "Ave 
Maria"  which  Hernan  Perez  del  Pulgar  had  nailed 
to  the  door  of  the  mosque. 

This  insult  was  more  than  Castilian  flesh  and 
blood  could  bear.  Hernan  was  not  present  to  main- 
tain his  deed,  but  Garcilasso  de  la  Yega,  one  of  the 
young  companions  of  his  exploit,  galloped  to  the 
king  and  earnestly  begged  permission  to  avenge  the 
degrading  insult  to  their  holy  faith.  The  king,  who 
was  as  indignant  as  the  knight,  gave  the  desired 
permission,  and  Garcilasso,  closing  his  visor  and 
grasping  his  spear,  rode  out  before  the  ranks  and 
defied  the  Moor  to  combat  to  the  death. 

Tarfe  asked  nothing  better,  and  an  exciting  pas- 
sage at  arms  took  place  on  the  plain  with  the  two 
armies  as  witnesses.  Tarfe  was  the  stronger  of  the 
two,  and  the  more  completely  armed.  He  was  skilled 
in  the  use  of  his  weapons  and  dexterous  in  man- 
aging his  horse,  and  the  Christians  trembled  for  their 
champion. 

The  warriors  met  in  mid  career  with  a  furious 
shock.  Their  lances  were  shivered,  and  Garcilasso 
was  borne  back  in  his  saddle.     But  his  horse  wheeled 


THE  KNIGHT  OF   THE   EXPLOITS.  141 

away  and  he  was  quickly  firm  in  his  seat  again, 
sword  in  hand.  Sword  against  scimitar,  the  com- 
batants returned  to  the  encounter.  The  Moor  rode 
a  trained  horse,  that  obeyed  his  every  signal.  Eound 
the  Christian  he  circled,  seeking  some  opening  for  a 
blow.  But  the  smaller  size  of  Garcilasso  was  made 
equal  by  greater  agility.  Now  he  parried  a  blow 
with  his  sword,  now  he  received  a  furious  stroke  on 
his  shield.  Bach  of  the  combatants  before  many 
minutes  felt  the  edge  of  the  steel,  and  their  blood 
began  to  flow. 

At  length  the  Moor,  thinking  his  antagonist  ex- 
hausted, rushed  in  and  grappled  with  him,  using  all 
his  force  to  fling  him  from  his  horse.  Garcilasso 
grasped  him  in  return  with  all  his  strength,  and 
they  fell  together  to  the  earth,  the  Moor  uppermost. 
Placing  his  knee  on  the  breast  of  the  Spaniard, 
Tarfe  drew  his  dagger  and  brandished  it  above  his 
throat.  Terror  filled  the  Christian  ranks ;  a  shout  of 
triumph  rose  from  those  of  the  Moors.  But  suddenly 
Tarfe  was  seen  to  loosen  his  grasp  and  roll  over  in 
the  dust.  Garcilasso  had  shortened  his  sword  and, 
as  Tarfe  raised  his  arm,  had  struck  him  to  the  heart. 

The  rules  of  chivalry  were  rigidly  observed.  'No 
one  interfered  on  either  side.  Garcilasso  despoiled 
his  victim,  raised  the  inscription  "  Ave  Maria"  on 
the  point  of  his  sword,  and  bore  it  triumphantly 
back,  amid  shouts  of  triumph  from  the  Christian 
army. 

By  this  time  the  passions  of  the  Moors  were  so 
excited  that  they  could  not  be  restrained.  They 
made  a  furious  charge  upon  the  Spanish  host,  driving 


142  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

in  its  advanced  ranks.  The  word  to  attack  was 
given  the  Spaniards  in  return,  the  war-cry  "Santi- 
ago !"  rang  along  the  line,  and  in  a  short  time  both 
armies  were  locked  in  furious  combat.  The  affair 
ended  in  a  repulse  of  the  Moors,  the  foot-soldiers 
taking  to  flight,  and  the  cavalry  vainly  endeavoring 
to  rally  them.  They  were  pursued  to  the  gates  of  the 
city,  more  than  two  thousand  of  them  being  killed, 
wounded,  or  taken  prisoners  in  "the  queen's  skir- 
mish" as  the  affair  came  to  be  called. 


THE  LAST  SIGH  OF  THE  MOOR. 

In  1492,  nearly  eight  centuries  after  the  conquest 
of  Spain  by  the  Arabs,  their  dominion  ended  in  the 
surrender  of  the  t;ity  of  Granada  by  King  Boabdil 
to  the  array  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  The  empire 
of  the  Arab  Moors  had  shrunk,  year  by  year  and  cen- 
tury by  century,  before  the  steady  advance  of  the 
Christians,  until  only  the  small  kingdom  of  Granada 
remained.  This,  distracted  by  anarchy  within  and 
assailed  by  King  Ferdinand  with  all  the  arts  of 
statecraft  and  all  the  strength  of  arms,  gradually 
decreased  in  dimensions,  city  after  city,  district  after 
district,  being  lost,  until  only  the  single  city  of 
Granada  remained. 

This  populous  and  powerful  city  would  have 
proved  very  difficult  to  take  by  the  ordinary  methods 
of  war,  and  could  only  have  been  subdued  with 
great  loss  of  life  and  expenditure  of  treasure.  Ferdi- 
nand assailed  it  by  a  less  costly  and  more  exasper- 
ating method.  Granada  subsisted  on  the  broad  and 
fertile  vega  or  plain  surrounding  it,  a  region  mar- 
vellously productive  in  grain  and  fruits  and  rich  in 
cattle  and  sheep.  It  was  a  cold-blooded  and  cruel 
system  adopted  by  the  Spanish  monarch.  He  as- 
sailed the  city  through  the  vega.  Disregarding  the 
city,  he  marched  his  army  into  the  plain  at  the  time 
of  harvest  and  so  thoroughly  destroyed  its  growing 

143 


144  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

crops  that  the  smiling  and  verdant  expanse  was  left 
a  scene  of  frightful  desolation.  This  was  not  accom- 
plished without  sharp  reprisals  by  the  Moors,  but  the 
Spaniard  persisted  until  he  had  converted  the  fruit- 
ful paradise  into  a  hopeless  desert,  and  then  marched 
away,  leaving  the  citizens  to  a  winter  of  despair. 

The  next  year  he  came  again,  encamped  his  army 
near  the  city,  destroyed  what  little  verdure  remained 
near  its  walls,  and  waited  calmly  until  famine  and 
anarchy  should  force  the  citizens  to  yield.  He  at- 
tempted no  siege.  It  was  not  necessarj^.  He  could 
safely  trust  to  his  terrible  allies.  The  crowded  city 
held  out  desperately  while  the  summer  passed  and 
autumn  moved  on  to  winter's  verge,  and  then,  with 
famine  stalking  through  their  streets  and  invading 
their  homes,  but  one  resource  remained  to  the  citi- 
zens,— surrender. 

Ferdinand  did  not  wish  to  distress  too  deeply  the 
unhappy  people.  To  obtain  possession  of  the  city 
on  any  terms  was  the  one  thought  then  in  his  mind. 
Harshness  could  come  later,  if  necessary.  There- 
fore, on  the  25th  of  November,  1492,  articles  of  ca- 
pitulation were  signed,  under  which  the  Moors  of 
Granada  were  to  retain  all  their  possessions,  be  pro- 
tected in  their  religious  exercises,  and  governed  by 
their  own  laws,  which  were  to  be  administered  by 
their  own  officials  ;  the  one  unwelcome  proviso  being 
that  they  should  become  subjects  of  Spain.  To 
Boabdil  were  secured  all  his  rich  estates  and  the  pat- 
rimony of  the  crown,  while  he  was  to  receive  in  ad- 
dition thirty  thousand  castellanos  in  gold.  Excellent 
terms,  one  would  say,  could  Spain  have  been  trusted 


THE   LAST   SIGH   OF   THE   MOOR.  145 

to  live  up  to  them — which  Spain  only  did  as  long  as 
good  faith  served  her  purpose. 

On  the  night  preceding  the  surrender  doleful 
lamentations  filled  the  halls  of  the  Alhambra,  for 
the  household  of  Boabdil  were  bidding  a  last  fare- 
well to  that  delightful  abode.  The  most  precious 
effects  were  hastily  packed  upon  mules,  and  with 
tears  and  wailings  the  rich  hangings  and  ornaments 
of  the  beautiful  apartments  were  removed.  Day  had 
not  yet  dawned  when  a  sorrowful  cavalcade  moved 
through  an  obscure  postern  gate  of  the  palace  and 
wound  through  a  retired  quarter  of  the  city.  It 
was  the  family  of  the  deposed  monarch,  which  he 
had  sent  off  thus  early  to  save  them  from  possible 
scoffs  and  insults. 

The  sun  had  barely  risen  when  three  signal-guns 
boomed  from  the  heights  of  the  Alhambra,  and  the 
Christian  army  began  its  march  across  the  vega. 
To  spare  the  feelings  of  the  citizens  it  was  decided 
that  the  city  should  not  be  entered  by  its  usual 
gates,  and  a  special  road  had  been  opened  leading  to 
the  Alhambra. 

At  the  head  of  the  procession  moved  the  king  and 
queen,  with  the  prince  and  princesses  and  the  dig- 
nitaries and  ladies  of  the  court,  attended  by  the 
royal  guards  in  their  rich  array.  This  cortege  halted 
at  the  village  of  Armilla,  a  league  and  a  half  from 
the  city.  Meanwhile,  Don  Pedro  Gonzalez  de  Men- 
doza.  Grand  Cardinal  of  Spain,  with  an  escort  of 
three  thousand  foot  and  a  troop  of  cavalry,  pro- 
ceeded towards  the  Alhambra  to  take  possession  of 
that  noblest  work  of  the  Moors.    At  their  approach 

10 


146  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

Boabdil  left  the  palace  by  a  postern  gate  attended 
by  fifty  cavaliers,  and  advanced  to  meet  the  grand 
cardinal,  whom,  in  words  of  mournful  renunciation, 
he  bade  to  take  possession  of  the  royal  fortress  of 
the  Moors.  Then  he  passed  sadly  onward  to  meet 
the  sovereigns  of  Spain,  who  had  halted  awaiting 
his  approach,  while  the  army  stood  drawn  up  on  the 
broad  plain. 

As  the  Spaniards  waited  in  anxious  hope,  all  eyes 
fixed  on  the  Alhambra  heights,  they  saw  the  silver 
cross,  the  great  standard  of  this  crusade,  rise  upon 
the  great  watch-tower,  where  it  sparkled  in  the  sun- 
beams, while  beside  it  floated  the  pennon  of  St. 
James,  at  sight  of  which  a  great  shout  of  "  Santiago ! 
Santiago !"  rose  from  the  awaiting  host.  Next  rose 
the  royal  standard,  amid  resounding  cries  of  "  Cas- 
tile !  Castile !  For  King  Ferdinand  and  Queen  Isa- 
bella." The  sovereigns  sank  upon  their  knees,  giving 
thanks  to  God  for  their  great  victory,  the  whole 
army  followed  their  example,  and  the  choristers  of 
the  royal  chapel  broke  forth  into  the  solemn  anthem 
of  "  Te  Deum  laudamusy 

Ferdinand  now  advanced  to  a  point  near  the  banks 
of  the  Xenil,  where  he  was  met  by  the  unfortunate 
Boabdil.  As  the  Moorish  king  approached  he  made 
a  movement  to  dismount,  which  Ferdinand  pre- 
vented. He  then  offered  to  kiss  the  king's  hand. 
This  homage  also,  as  previously  arranged,  was  de- 
clined, whereupon  Boabdil  leaned  forward  and  kissed 
the  king's  right  arm.  He  then  with  a  resigned  mien 
delivered  the  keys  of  the  city. 

"  These  keys,"  he  said,  "  are  the  last  relics  of  the 


THE   LAST   SIGH   OP  THE   MOOR.  147 

Arabian  empire  in  Spain.  Thine,  O  king,  are  our 
trophies,  our  kingdom,  and  our  person.  Such  is  the 
will  of  God !  Eeceive  them  with  the  clemency  thou 
hast  promised,  and  which  we  look  for  at  thy  hands." 

"  Doubt  not  our  promises,"  said  Ferdinand,  kindly, 
"  nor  that  thou  shalt  regain  from  our  friendship  the 
prosperity  of  which  the  fortune  of  war  has  deprived 
thee." 

Then  drawing  from  his  finger  a  gold  ring  set  with 
a  precious  stone,  Boabdil  presented  it  to  the  Count 
of  Tendilla,  who,  he  was  informed,  was  to  be  gov- 
ernor of  the  city,  saying, — 

"  With  this  ring  Granada  has  been  governed.  Take 
it  and  govern  with  it,  and  God  make  you  more  fortu- 
nate than  I." 

He  then  proceeded  to  the  village  of  Armilla,  where 
Queen  Isabella  remained.  She  received  him  with 
the  utmost  courtesy  and  graciousness,  and  delivered 
to  him  his  son,  who  had  been  held  as  a  hostage  for 
the  fulfilment  of  the  capitulation.  Boabdil  pressed 
the  child  tenderly  to  his  bosom,  and  moved  on  until 
he  had  joined  his  family,  from  whom  and  their  at- 
tendants the  shouts  and  strains  of  music  of  the  vic- 
torious army  drew  tears  and  moans. 

At  length  the  weeping  train  reached  the  summit 
of  an  eminence  about  two  leagues  distant  which 
commanded  the  last  view  of  Granada.  Here  they 
paused  for  a  look  of  farewell  at  the  beautiful  and 
beloved  city,  whose  towers  and  minarets  gleamed 
brightly  before  them  in  the  sunshine.  While  they 
still  gazed  a  peal  of  artillery,  faint  with  distance, 
told  them  that  the  city  was  taken  possession  of  and 


148  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

was  lost  to  the  Moorish  kings  forever.  Boabdil 
could  no  longer  contain  himself. 

"Allah  achbar!  God  is  great!"  he  murmured, 
tears  belieing  his  words  of  resignation. 

His  mother,  a  woman  of  intrepid  soul,  was  indig- 
nant at  this  display  of  weakness. 

"  You  do  well,"  she  cried,  "  to  weep  like  a  woman 
for  what  you  failed  to  defend  like  a  man.^* 

Others  strove  to  console  the  king,  but  his  tears 
were  not  to  be  restrained. 

"Allah  achbar!"  he  exclaimed  again;  "when  did 
misfortunes  ever  equal  mine  ?" 

The  hill  where  this  took  place  afterwards  became 
known  as  Feg  Allah  Achbar ;  but  the  point  of  view 
where  Boabdil  obtained  the  last  prospect  of  Granada 
is  called  by  the  Spaniards  "  El  ultimo  suspiro  del 
Moro,''  or  "  The  last  sigh  of  the  Moor." 

As  Boabdil  thus  took  his  last  look  at  beautiful 
Granada,  it  behooves  us  to  take  a  final  backward 
glance  at  Arabian  Spain,  from  whose  history  we 
have  drawn  so  much  of  interest  and  romance.  In 
this  hospitable  realm  civilization  dwelt  when  it  had 
fled  from  all  Europe  besides.  Here  luxury  reigned 
while  barbarism  prevailed  in  other  European  lands. 
We  are  told  that  in  Cordova  a  man  might  walk  in 
a  straight  line  for  ten  miles  by  the  light  of  the  pub- 
lic lamps,  while  seven  hundred  years  afterwards 
there  was  not  a  single  public  lamp  in  London  streets. 
Its  avenues  were  solidly  paved,  while  centuries  after- 
wards the  people  of  Paris,  on  rainy  days,  stepped 
from  their  door-sills  into  mud  ankle  deep.  The  dwell- 
ings were  marked  by  beauty  and  luxury,  while  the 


THE   LAST   SIGH   OF   THE   MOOR.  149 

people  of  Europe  dwelt  in  miserable  huts,  dressed  in 
leather,  and  lived  on  the  rudest  and  least  nutritive 
food. 

The  rulers  of  France,  England,  and  Germany 
lived  in  rude  buildings  without  chimneys  or  win- 
dows, with  a  hole  in  the  roof  for  the  smoke  to  es- 
cape, at  a  time  when  the  royal  halls  of  Arabian  Spain 
were  visions  of  grace  and  beauty.  The  residences 
of  the  Arabs  had  marble  balconies  overhanging 
orange-gardens ;  their  floors  and  walls  were  fre- 
quently of  rich  and  graceful  mosaic;  fountains 
gushed  in  their  courts,  quicksilver  often  taking  the 
place  of  water,  and  falling  in  a  glistening  spray.  In 
summer  cool  air  was  drawn  into  the  apartments 
through  ventilating  towers;  in  winter  warm  and 
perfumed  air  was  discharged  through  hidden  pas- 
sages. From  the  ceilings,  corniced  with  fretted  gold, 
great  chandeliers  hung.  Here  were  clusters  of  frail 
marble  columns,  which,  in  the  boudoirs  of  the  sul- 
tanas, gave  way  to  verd-antique  incrusted  with  lapis 
lazuli.  The  furniture  was  of  sandal-  or  citron- wood, 
richly  inlaid  with  gold,  silver,  or  precious  minerals. 
Tapestry  hid  the  walls,  Persian  carpets  covered  the 
floors,  pillows  and  couches  of  elegant  forms  were 
spread  about  the  rooms.  Great  care  was  given  to 
bathing  and  personal  cleanliness  at  a  time  when  such 
a  thought  had  not  dawned  upon  Christian  Europe. 
Their  pleasure-gardens  were  of  unequalled  beauty, 
and  were  rich  with  flowers  and  fruits.  In  short,  in 
this  brief  space  it  is  impossible  to  give  more  than  a 
bare  outline  of  the  marvellous  luxury  which  sur- 
rounded this  people,  recently  come  from  the  deserts 


150  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

of  Arabia,  at  a  time  when  the  remainder  of  Europe 
was  plunged  into  the  rudest  barbarism. 

Much  might  be  said  of  their  libraries,  their  uni- 
versities, their  scholars  and  scientists,  and  the  mag- 
nificence of  their  architecture,  of  which  abundant 
examples  still  remain  in  the  cities  of  Spain,  the  Al- 
hambra  of  Granada,  the  palace  which  Boabdil  so 
reluctantly  left,  being  almost  without  an  equal  foi 
lightness,  grace,  and  architectural  beauty  in  the 
cities  of  the  world.  Well  might  the  dethroned  mon- 
arch look  back  with  bitter  regret  upon  this  rarest 
monument  of  the  Arabian  civilization  and  give  vent, 
in  farewell  to  its  far-seen  towers,  to  "  The  last  sigh 
of  the  Moor." 


THE  RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 

In  the  spring  succeeding  the  fall  of  Granada  there 
came  to  Spain  a  glory  and  renown  that  made  her 
the  envy  of  all  the  nations  of  Europe.  During  the 
year  before  an  Italian  mariner,  Christopher  Colum- 
bus by  name,  after  long  haunting  the  camp  and 
court  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  had  been  sent  out 
with  a  meagre  expedition  in  the  forlorn  hope  of  dis- 
covering new  lands  beyond  the  seas.  In  March, 
1493,  extraordinary  tidings  spread  through  the  king- 
dom and  reached  the  ears  of  the  monarchs  at  their 
court  in  Barcelona.  The  tidings  were  that  the  poor 
and  despised  mariner  had  returned  to  Palos  with 
wonderful  tales  of  the  discovery  of  a  vast,  rich  realm 
beyond  the  seas, — a  mighty  new  empire  for  Spain. 

The  marvellous  news  set  the  whole  kingdom  wild 
with  joy.  The  ringing  of  bells  and  solemn  thanks- 
givings welcomed  Columbus  at  the  port  from  which 
he  had  set  sail.  On  his  journey  to  the  king's  court 
his  progress  was  impeded  by  the  multitudes  who 
thronged  to  see  the  suddenly  famous  man, — the  hum- 
ble mariner  who  had  discovered  for  Spain  what  every 
one  already  spoke  of  as  a  "  !N"ew  World."  With  him 
he  brought  several  of  the  bronze-hued  natives  of 
that  far  land,  dressed  in  their  simple  island  costume, 
and  decorated,  as  they  passed  through  the  principal 
cities,  with  collars,  bracelets,  and  other  ornaments 

161 


152  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

of  gold.  He  exhibited,  also,  gold  in  dust  and  in 
shapeless  masses,  many  new  plants,  some  of  them 
of  high  medicinal  value,  several  animals  never  before 
seen  in  Europe,  and  birds  whose  brilliant  plumage 
attracted  glances  of  delight  from  all  eyes. 

It  was  mid-April  when  Columbus  reached  Barce- 
lona. The  nobility  and  knights  of  the  court  met  him 
in  splendid  array  and  escorted  him  to  the  royal  pres- 
ence through  the  admiring  throngs  that  filled  the 
streets.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  with  their  son. 
Prince  John,  awaited  his  arrival  seated  under  a  su- 
perb canopy  of  state.  On  the  approach  of  the  dis- 
coverer they  rose  and  extended  their  hands  to  him 
to  kiss,  not  suffering  him  to  kneel  in  homage.  In- 
stead, they  bade  him  seat  himself  before  them, — a 
mark  of  condescension  to  a  person  of  his  rank  un- 
known before  in  the  haughty  court  of  Castile.  He 
was,  at  that  moment,  "  the  man  whom  the  king  de- 
lighted to  honor,"  and  it  was  the  proudest  period  in 
his  life  when,  having  proved  triumphantly  all  for 
which  he  had  so  long  contended,  he  was  honored  as 
the  equal  of  the  proud  monarchs  of  Spain. 

At  the  request  of  the  sovereigns  Columbus  gave 
them  a  brief  account  of  his  adventures,  in  a  dignified 
tone,  that  warmed  with  enthusiasm  as  he  proceeded. 
He  described  the  various  tropical  islands  he  had 
landed  upon,  spoke  with  favor  of  their  delightful 
climate  and  the  fertility  of  their  soil,  and  exhibited 
the  specimens  he  had  brought  as  examples  of  their 
fruitfulness.  He  dwelt  still  more  fully  upon  their 
wealth  in  the  precious  metals,  of  which  he  had  been 
assured   by  the  natives,  and   offered   the  gold  he 


r 


THE   RETURN   OF   COLUMBUS.  153 

brought  with  him  as  evidence.  Lastly,  he  expa- 
tiated on  the  opportunity  offered  for  the  extension 
of  the  Christian  religion  through  lands  populous 
with  pagans, — a  suggestion  which  appealed  strongly 
to  the  Spanish  heart.  When  he  ceased  the  king  and 
queen,  with  all  present,  threw  themselves  on  their 
knees  and  gave  thanks  to  God,  while  the  solemn 
strains  of  the  Te  Deum  were  poured  forth  by  the 
choir  of  the  royal  chapel. 

Throughout  his  residence  in  Barcelona  Columbus 
continued  to  receive  the  most  honorable  distinction 
from  the  Spanish  sovereigns.  When  Ferdinand  rode 
abroad  the  admiral  rode  by  his  side.  Isabella,  the 
true  promoter  of  his  expedition,  treated  him  with 
the  most  gracious  consideration.  The  courtiers, 
emulating  their  sovereigns,  gave  frequent  entertain- 
ments in  his  honor,  treating  him  with  the  punctilious 
deference  usually  shown  only  to  a  noble  of  the  high- 
est rank.  It  cannot  be  said,  however,  that  envy  at 
the  high  distinction  shown  this  lately  obscure  and 
penniless  adventurer  was  quite  concealed,  and  at  one 
of  these  entertainments  is  said  to  have  taken  place 
the  famous  episode  of  the  Qgg. 

A  courtier  of  shallow  wit,  with  the  purpose  of 
throwing  discredit  on  the  achievement  of  Columbus, 
intimated  that  it  was  not  so  great  an  exploit  after 
all ;  all  that  was  necessary  was  to  sail  west  a  certain 
number  of  days ;  the  lands  lay  there  waiting  to  be 
discovered.  Were  there  not  other  men  in  Spain, 
he  asked,  capable  of  this  ? 

The  response  of  Columbus  was  to  take  an  Qgg  and 
ask  those  present  to  make  it  stand  upright  on  its 


154  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

end.  After  they  had  tried  and  failed  he  struck  the 
egg  on  the  table,  cracking  the  shell  and  giving  it  a 
base  on  which  to  stand. 

"  But  anybody  could  do  that !"  cried  the  critic. 

"  Yes ;  and  anybody  can  become  a  discoverer  when 
once  he  has  been  shown  the  way,"  retorted  Colum- 
bus.    "  It  is  easy  to  follow  in  a  known  track." 

By  this  time  all  Europe  had  heard  of  the  brilliant 
discovery  of  the  Genoese  mariner,  and  everywhere 
admiration  at  his  achievement  and  interest  in  its  re- 
sults were  manifested.  Europe  had  never  been  so 
excited  by  any  single  event.  The  world  was  found 
to  be  larger  than  had  been  dreamed  of,  and  it  was 
evident  that  hundreds  of  new  things  remained  to 
be  known.  Word  came  to  Barcelona  that  King 
John  of  Portugal  was  equipping  a  large  armament 
to  obtain  a  share  of  the  new  realms  in  the  west,  and 
all  haste  was  made  to  anticipate  this  dangerous  rival 
by  sending  Columbus  again  to  the  Kew  World. 

On  the  25th  of  September,  1493,  he  set  sail  with  a 
gallant  armament,  which  quite  threw  into  the  shade 
his  three  humble  caravels  of  the  year  before.  It  con- 
sisted of  seventeen  vessels,  some  of  them  of  large 
size  for  that  day,  and  fifteen  hundred  souls,  including 
several  persons  of  rank,  and  members  of  the  royal 
household.  Many  of  those  that  had  taken  part  in 
the  Moorish  war,  stimulated  by  the  love  of  adven- 
ture, were  to  win  fame  in  the  coming  years  in  the 
conquest  of  the  alluring  realms  of  the  West,  and  the 
earliest  of  these  sailed  now  under  the  banner  of  the 
Great  Admiral. 

The  story  of  Columbus  is  too  familiar  to  readers 


r 


THE  RETURN  OP  COLUMBUS.  155 


for  more  to  be  said  of  it  here.  It  was  one  in  which 
the  boasted  honor  of  the  Spanish  court  was  soon 
lost  under  a  cloud  of  perfidy.  Envy  and  malice 
surrounded  the  discoverer,  and  in  1500  he  was  sent 
home  in  chains  by  an  infamous  governor.  The  king, 
roused  by  a  strong  display  of  public  indignation, 
disavowed  the  base  act  of  his  agent,  and  received 
Columbus  again  with  a  show  of  favor,  but  failed  to 
reinstate  him  in  the  office  of  which  he  had  been  un- 
justly deprived.  From  that  time  forward  the  story 
of  the  discoverer  was  one  of  neglect  and  faithless 
treatment,  he  fell  into  poverty,  and  died  miserable 
and  neglected  at  Yalladolid  in  1506,  keeping  the 
fetters  which  had  been  placed  on  his  limbs  till  the 
last,  as  evidence  of  the  perfidy  of  Spain. 


PETER    THE    CRUEL    AND    THE 
FREE  COMPANIES. 

About  the  middle  of  the  year  1365  a  formidable 
expedition  set  out  from  France  for  the  invasion  of 
Castile,  It  consisted  of  the  celebrated  Free  Com- 
panies, marauding  bands  of  French  and  English 
knights  and  archers  whose  allegiance  was  to  the 
sword,  and  who,  having  laid  waste  France,  now 
sought  fresh  prey  in  Spain.  Yaliant  and  daring 
were  these  reckless  freebooters,  bred  to  war,  living 
on  rapine,  battle  their  delight,  revel  their  relax- 
ation. For  years  the  French  and  English  Free 
Companies  had  been  enemies.  Now  a  truce  existed 
between  their  princes,  and  they  had  joined  hands 
under  the  leadership  of  the  renowned  knight  Ber- 
trand  du  Guesclin,  at  that  time  the  most  famous 
soldier  of  France.  Sir  Hugh  de  Calverley  headed  the 
English  bands,  known  as  the  White  Company,  and 
made  up  largely  of  men-at-arms,  that  is,  of  heavy 
armed  horsemen ;  but  with  a  strong  contingent  of 
the  formidable  English  archers.  The  total  force 
comprised  more  than  twelve  thousand  men. 

"You  lead  the  life  of  robbers,"  said  Du  Guesclin 

to  them.     "  Every  day  you  risk  your  lives  in  forays, 

which  yield  you  more  blows  than  booty.     I  come  to 

propose  an  enterprise  worthy  of  gallant  knights  and 

166 


PETER   THE   CRUEL   AND   THE    FREE   COMPANIES.      157 

to  open  to  you  a  new  field  of  action.  In  Spain  both 
glory  and  profit  await  you.  You  will  there  find  a 
rich  and  avaricious  king  who  possesses  great  treas- 
ures, and  is  the  ally  of  the  Saracens ;  in  fact,  is  half  a 
pagan  himself  We  propose  to  conquer  his  kingdom 
and  to  bestow  it  on  the  Count  of  Trastamara,  an  old 
comrade  of  yours,  a  good  lance,  as  you  all  know,  and 
a  gentle  and  generous  knight,  who  will  share  with 
you  his  land  when  you  win  it  for  him  from  the  Jews 
and  Moslems  of  that  wicked  king,  Don  Pedro.  Come, 
comrades,  let  us  honor  God  and  shame  the  devil." 

The  Free  Companies  were  ready  at  a  word  to  fol- 
low his  banner.  Among  them  were  many  knights 
of  noble  birth  who  valued  glory  above  booty,  and 
looked  upon  it  as  a  worthy  enterprise  to  dethrone  a 
cruel  and  wicked  king,  the  murderer  of  his  queen. 
As  for  the  soldiers,  they  cared  not  against  whom 
they  fought,  if  booty  was  to  be  had. 

"  Messire  Bertrand,"  they  said,  "  gives  all  that  he 
wins  to  his  men-at-arms.  He  is  the  father  of  the 
soldier.     Let  us  march  with  him.'* 

And  so  the  bargain  was  made  and  the  Free  Com- 
panies marched  away,  light  of  heart  and  strong  of 
hand,  with  a  promising  goal  before  them,  and  a 
chance  of  abundance  of  fighting  before  they  would 
see  their  homes  again. 

Peter  the  Cruel,  King  of  Castile  and  Leon,  amply 
deserved  to  be  dethroned.  His  reign  had  been  one 
of  massacre.  All  whom  he  suspected  died  by  the 
dagger  of  the  assassin.  He  bitterly  hated  his  two 
half-brothers,  Fadrique  and  Henry.  Fadrique  he 
enticed  to  his  court  by  a  show  of  friendship,  anc* 


158  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

then  had  him  brutally  murdered  at  the  gate  of  his 
palace,  the  Alcazir  of  Seville.  But  his  treatment  of 
his  queen  was  what  made  him  specially  odious  to 
his  people.  He  married  a  French  princess,  Blanche 
of  Bourbon,  but  deserted  her  after  two  days  to  re- 
turn to  his  mistress,  Maria  de  Pedilla.  Blanche 
was  taken  to  Toledo,  where  she  was  so  closely  con- 
fined that  the  people  rose  and  rescued  her  from  the 
king's  guards.  Peter  marched  in  anger  against  the 
city,  but  its  people  defied  him  and  kept  the  queen. 
Then  the  crafty  villain  pretended  sorrow  and  asked 
for  a  reconciliation.  The  queen  consented,  went 
back  to  him,  and  was  quickly  imprisoned  in  a  strong 
fortress,  where  she  was  murdered  by  his  orders  in 
1361. 

It  was  this  shameful  act  and  the  murder  of  his 
brother  Fadrique  that  roused  the  people  to  insurrec- 
tion. Henry  of  Trastamara,  the  remaining  brother, 
headed  a  revolt  against  the  tyrant  and  invited  the 
Free  Companies  to  his  aid.  These  were  the  circum- 
stances that  gave  rise  to  the  march  of  Du  Guesclin 
and  Calverley  and  their  battle-loving  bands. 

The  adventurers  wore  crosses  on  their  vests  and 
banners,  as  though  they  were  a  company  of  cru- 
saders raised  in  the  service  of  the  church.  But  in 
truth  they  were  under  the  ban  of  excommunication, 
for  they  had  no  more  spared  the  church  than  the 
castle  or  the  cottage.  Du  Guesclin,  determined  to 
relieve  them  from  this  ban  and  force  the  Pope  to 
grant  them  absolution,  directed  his  march  upon 
Avignon,  the  papal  residence  in  France.  It  was  not 
only  absolution  he  wanted.     The  papal  coffers  were 


HALL  OF  AMBASSADORS,    ALCAZAR   OF  SEVILLE. 


PETER   THE   CRUEL  AND   THE   FREE   COMPANIES.      159 

full;  his  military  chest  was  empty;  his  soldiers 
would  not  remain  tractable  unless  well  paid;  the 
church  should  have  the  privilege  of  aiding  the  army. 

It  was  with  dismay  that  the  people  of  Avignon 
beheld  the  White  Company  encamp  before  their  ram- 
parts, late  in  the  year  1365.  The  Cardinal  of  Jeru- 
salem was  sent  in  haste  to  their  camp,  with  a  promise 
from  the  Holy  Father  that  he  would  remove  the  ban 
of  excommunication  if  they  would  evacuate  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  Church.  The  cardinal's  mission  was  a 
dangerous  one,  for  the  fierce  Free  Companions  had  no 
reverence  for  priest  or  pope.  He  had  hardly  crossed 
the  Ehone  before  he  was  confronted  by  a  turbulent 
band  of  English  archers,  who  demanded  if  he  had 
brought  money. 

"  Money  ?"  he  asked,  in  faltering  tones. 

"Ay,  money!"  they  insolently  cried,  impeding  his 
passage. 

On  reaching  Du  Guesclin's  tent  he  was  treated 
with  more  politeness,  but  was  met  with  the  same 
demand. 

"  We  cannot  control  our  troops,"  said  some  of  the 
chiefs ;  "  and,  as  they  are  ready  to  hazard  their  lives 
for  the  greater  glory  of  the  faith,  they  well  deserve 
the  aid  of  the  Church." 

"  The  Holy  Father  will  incur  much  danger  if  he 
refuses  the  demand  of  our  men,"  said  Du  Guesclin, 
in  smooth  but  menacing  tones.  "  They  have  become 
good  Catholics  in  spite  of  themselves,  and  would 
very  readily  return  to  their  old  trade." 

Imminent  as  the  danger  was,  the  Pope  resisted, 
and  tried  to  scare  off  that  flock  of  reckless  war- 


160  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

hawks  by  the  thunders  of  papal  condemnation.  But 
he  soon  learned  that  appeals  and  threats  alike  were 
wasted  on  the  Free  Companies.  From  the  windows 
of  his  palace  he  could  see  groups  of  his  unruly  vis- 
itors at  work  plundering  farms  and  country  houses. 
Fires  were  here  and  there  kindled.  The  rich  lands 
of  Avignon  were  in  danger  of  a  general  ravage. 

"What  can  I  do?"  said  Du  Gueschn  to  the  com- 
plaints of  the  people.  "  My  soldiers  are  excommu- 
nicated. The  devil  is  in  them,  and  we  are  no  longer 
their  masters." 

Evidently  there  was  but  one  way  to  get  rid  of  this 
irreligious  crew.  The  chiefs  agreed  to  be  satisfied 
with  five  thousand  golden  florins.  This  sum  was 
paid,  and  the  knights  companions,  laden  with  plun- 
der and  absolved  from  their  sins,  set  out  in  the  high- 
est spirits,  singing  the  praises  of  their  captain  and 
the  joys  of  war.     Such  was  their  farewell  to  France. 

Onward  they  marched,  across  the  Pyrenees  and 
into  Aragon,  whose  king  had  joined  with  Henry  of 
Trastamara  in  requesting  their  presence.  They  were 
far  from  welcome  to  the  people  of  this  region  of 
Spain.  Pedro  lY.  of  Aragon  had  agreed  to  pay 
them  one  hundred  thousand  golden  florins  on  condi- 
tion that  they  should  pass  through  his  dominions 
without  disorder;  but  the  adventurers,  imagining 
that  they  were  already  in  the  enemy's  country,  be- 
gan their  usual  service  of  fire  and  sword.  In  Bar- 
bastro  they  pillaged  the  houses,  killed  the  burghers 
or  tortured  them  to  extort  ransom,  and  set  fire  to  a 
church  in  which  some  had  taken  refuge,  burning 
alive  more  than  two  hundred  persons. 


PETER  THE   CRUEL  AND  THE  FREE  COMPANIES.      161 

If  such  was  the  course  of  these  freebooting  bands 
in  the  country  of  their  friends,  what  would  it  be  in 
that  of  their  foes  ?  Every  effort  was  made  to  get 
them  out  of  the  country  as  soon  as  possible.  Im- 
mediate action  was  needed,  for  the  warlike  moun- 
taineers were  beginning  to  revenge  the  robberies  of 
the  adventurers  by  waylaying  their  convoys  and 
kiUing  their  stragglers.  In  early  March,  1366,  the 
frontier  was  passed.  Sir  Hugh  de  Calverley  leading 
his  men  against  Borja,  a  town  of  Aragon  which  was 
occupied  by  soldiers  of  Castile. 

The  garrison  fled  on  their  approach,  and  soon  the 
army  entered  Castile  and  marched  upon  Calahorra, 
a  town  friendly  to  Prince  Henry,  and  which  opened 
its  gates  at  sight  of  their  banners.  Here  an  inter- 
esting ceremony  took  place.  Du  Guesclin  and  the 
other  leaders  of  the  Free  Companies,  with  as  much 
assurance  as  if  they  had  already  conquered  Castile, 
offered  Henry  the  throne. 

"Take  the  crown,"  said  the  burly  leader.  "You 
owe  this  honor  to  the  many  noble  knights  who  have 
elected  you  their  leader  in  this  campaign.  Don 
Pedro,  your  enemy,  has  refused  to  meet  you  in  the 
battle-field,  and  thus  acknowledges  that  the  throne 
of  Castile  is  vacant." 

Henry  held  back.  He  felt  that  these  foreigners 
had  not  the  crown  of  Castile  in  their  gift.  But 
when  the  Castiliana  present  joined  in  the  demand  he 
yielded,  and  permitted  them  to  place  the  crown  upon 
his  head.  His  chief  captain  at  once  unfurled  the 
royal  standard,  and  passed  through  the  camp,  cry- 
ing, "  Castile   for   King   Henry !     Long  live   King 

11 


162  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

Henry !"  Then,  amid  loud  acclamations,  he  planted 
the  banner  on  the  crest  of  a  hill  on  the  road  to 
Burgos. 

We  need  not  delay  on  the  events  of  this  campaign. 
Everywhere  the  people  of  Castile  fell  away  from 
their  cruel  king,  and  Henry's  advance  was  almost 
unopposed.  Soon  he  was  in  Burgos,  and  Don  Pedro 
had  become  a  fugitive  without  an  army  and  almost 
without  a  friend.  Henry  was  now  again  crowned 
king,  many  of  the  Castilian  nobles  taking  part  in 
the  imposing  ceremony. 

The  first  acts  of  the  new  king  were  to  recompense 
the  men  who  had  raised  him  to  that  high  office. 
The  money  which  he  found  in  the  treasury  served 
as  a  rich  reward  to  the  followers  of  Du  Guesclin. 
He  gave  titles  of  nobility  and  grants  of  land  with  a 
free  hand  to  the  chiefs  of  the  Free  Companies  and 
his  other  companions  in  arms.  On  Du  Guesclin  he 
conferred  his  own  countship  of  Trastamara,  and 
added  to  it  the  lordship  of  Molino,  with  the  domains 
appertaining  to  both.  Calverley  was  made  Count 
of  Carrion,  and  received  the  domains  which  had 
formerly  been  held  by  the  sons-in-law  of  the  Cid. 
Lesser  rewards  were  given  to  lesser  chiefs,  and  none 
had  reason  to  accuse  Henry  of  Castile  of  wacft  of 
generosity. 

But  the  Free  Companions  soon  became  a  sword  in 
the  side  of  the  new  king.  As  there  was  no  more 
fighting  to  be  done,  they  resumed  their  old  occu- 
pation of  pillaging,  and  from  every  side  complaints 
rained  in  upon  the  throne.  Henry  felt  it  necessary 
to  get  rid  of  his  unruly  friends  with  all  despatch. 


PETER  THE   CRUEL  AND   THE   FREE   COMPANIES.      163 

Eetaining  Du  Guesclin  and  Calverley  in  his  service, 
with  fifteen  hundred  lances,  mainly  French  and 
Breton,  he  dismissed  the  remainder,  placating  them 
with  rich  presents  and  warm,  thanks.  iN'othing  loath, 
and  gratified  that  they  had  avenged  the  murdered 
Queen  Blanche,  they  took  their  way  back,  finding 
abundant  chance  for  fighting  on  their  return.  The 
Castilians,  the  Navarrese,  and  the  Aragonese  all 
rose  against  them,  and  everywhere  they  had  to  force 
a  passage  with  their  swords.  But  nothing  could 
stop  them.  Spain,  accustomed  to  fight  with  Arabs 
and  Moors,  had  no  warriors  fit  to  face  these  intrepid 
and  heavily  armed  veterans.  Through  the  Pyrenees 
they  made  their  way,  and  here  cut  a  road  with  their 
swords  through  the  main  body  of  a  French  army 
which  had  gathered  to  oppose  their  march.  Once 
more  they  were  upon  the  soil  of  France. 

It  was  the  English  and  Gascon  bands  that  were 
principally  opposed.  It  was  known  that  the  Black 
Prince  was  preparing  to  invade  Spain,  and  an  effort 
was  made  to  cut  off  the  free  lances  who  might  en- 
list under  his  banners.  This  famous  knight,  son  of 
Edward  III.  of  England,  and  victor  at  the  battle 
of  Poitiers,  where  he  had  taken  prisoner  the  king 
of  France,  was  a  cousin  of  the  fugitive  king  of 
Castile,  who  sought  him  at  Cape  Breton,  and  begged 
his  aid  to  recover  his  dominions.  The  chivalrous 
prince  of  Wales  knew  little  of  the  dastardly  deeds  of 
the  suppliant.  Don  Pedro  had  brought  with  him  his 
three  young  maiden  daughters,  whose  helpless  state 
appealed  warmly  to  the  generous  knight.  National 
policy  accorded  with  the  inclination  of  the  prince, 


164  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

for  the  Castilian  revolution  had  been  promoted  by 
France,  and  the  usurper  had  been  in  the  pay  of  the 
French  king.  These  inducements  were  enough  to 
win  for  Don  Pedro  the  support  of  Edward  III.,  and 
the  aid  of  the  Black  Prince,  who  entered  upon  the 
enterprise  with  the  passionate  enthusiasm  which 
was  a  part  of  his  nature. 

Soon  again  two  armies  were  in  the  field,  that  of 
King  Henry,  raised  to  defend  his  new  dominions, 
and  that  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  gathered  to  replace 
the  fugitive  Don  Pedro  upon  the  throne.  With  the 
latter  was  the  White  Company,  which  had  aided  to 
drive  Pedro  from  his  seat  and  was  now  equally  ready 
to  replace  him  there.  These  bold  lancers  and  arch- 
ers fought  for  their  own  hands,  with  little  care  whose 
cause  they  backed. 

It  was  through  the  valley  of  Eoncesvalles,  that 
celebrated  pass  which  was  associated  with  the  name 
of  the  famous  Eoland,  the  chief  knight  of  French 
romance,  that  the  army  of  the  Black  Prince  made 
its  way  into  Spain.  Calverley,  who  was  not  willing 
to  fight  against  his  liege  lord,  joined  him  with  his 
lances,  King  Henry  generously  consenting.  Du 
Guesclin,  a  veteran  in  the  art  of  war,  advised  the 
Castilian  king  to  employ  a  Fabian  policy,  harassing 
the  invaders  by  skirmishes,  drawing  them  deep  into 
the  country,  and  wearing  them  out  with  fatigue  and 
hunger.  He  frankly  told  him  that  his  men  could 
not  face  in  a  pitched  battle  the  English  veterans,  led 
by  such  a  soldier  as  the  Black  Prince.  But  the  policy 
suggested  would  have  been  hazardous  in  Castile,  di- 
vided as  it  was  between  two  parties.    Henry  remem- 


tETER  THE   CRUEL   AND   THE   FREE   COMPANIES.      165 

bered  that  his  rival  had  lost  the  kingdom  through 
not  daring  to  risk  a  battle,  and  he  determined  to 
fight  for  his  throne,  trusting  his  cause  to  Providence 
and  the  strength  of  his  arms. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  April,  1367,  that  the  two 
armies  came  face  to  face  on  a  broad  plain.  They 
were  fairly  matched  in  numbers,  and  as  day  broke 
both  marched  resolutely  to  the  encounter,  amid 
opposing  shouts  of  "  King  Henry  for  Castile"  and 
"  St.  George  and  Guyenne."  It  was  a  hard,  fierce, 
bitter  struggle  that  followed,  in  which  the  onset  of 
Du  Guesclin  was  so  impetuous  as  for  a  moment  to 
break  the  English  line.  But  the  end  was  at  hand 
when  the  Castilian  cavalry  broke  in  panic  before  the 
charge  of  an  English  squadron,  which  turned  Du 
Guesclin's  battahon  and  took  it  in  flank.  The  Captal 
de  Buch  at  the  same  time  fell  on  the  flank  of  the 
Castilian  vanguard.  Thus  beset  and  surrounded,  the 
French  and  Spanish  men-at-arms  desperately  sought 
to  hold  their  own  against  much  superior  numbers. 
King  Henry  fought  valiantly,  and  called  on  all  to 
rally  round  his  standard.  But  at  length  the  banner 
fell,  the  disorder  grew  general,  the  ranks  broke,  and 
knights  and  foot-soldiers  joined  in  a  tumultuous 
retreat. 

Their  only  hope  now  was  the  bridge  of  Najera, 
over  the  Najerilla,  which  stream  lay  behind  their 
line.  Some  rushed  for  the  bridge,  others  leaped  into 
the  river,  which  became  instantly  red  with  blood, 
for  the  arrows  of  the  archers  were  poured  into  the 
crowded  stream.  Only  the  approach  of  night,  the 
fatigue  of  the  victors,  and  the  temptation  to  plunder 


166  HISTPORiCAL  i?ALi:s. 

the  town  and  the  camp  saved  the  wreck  of  the  Cas- 
tilian  army,  which  had  lost  seven  thousand  foot- 
soldiers  and  some  six  hundred  men-at-arms.  Du 
Guesclin's  battalion,  which  alone  had  made  a  gallant 
stand,  was  half  slain.  A  large  number  of  prisoners 
were  taken,  among  them  the  valorous  Du  Guesclin 
himself. 

Edward  the  Elack  Prince  now  first  learned  the 
character  of  the  man  whom  he  had  come  to  aid. 
Don  Pedro  galloped  excitedly  over  the  plain  seeking 
his  rival,  and,  chancing  to  meet  Lopez  de  Orozco, 
one  of  his  former  friends,  now  the  prisoner  of  a 
Gascon  knight,  he  stabbed  him  to  the  heart,  despite 
the  efforts  of  the  Gascon  in  his  defence.  The  report 
of  this  murder  filled  the  Black  Prince  with  indigna- 
tion, which  was  heightened  when  Don  Pedro  offered 
to  ransom  all  the  Castilian  prisoners,  plainly  indi- 
cating that  he  intended  to  murder  them.  Prince 
Edward  sternly  refused,  only  consenting  to  deliver 
up  certain  nobles  who  had  been  declared  traitors 
before  the  revolution.  These  Don  Pedro  immedi- 
ately had  beheaded  before  his  tent. 

The  breach  between  the  allies  rapidly  widened, 
Don  Pedro,  as  soon  as  he  fairly  got  possession  of  the 
throne,  breaking  all  his  engagements  with  the  Black 
Prince,  while  he  was  unable,  from  the  empty  state 
of  his  treasury,  to  pay  the  allied  troops.  Four 
months  Prince  Edward  waited,  with  growing  indig- 
nation, for  redress,  while  disease  was  rapidly  carry- 
ing off  his  men,  and  then  marched  in  anger  from 
Spain  with  scarcely  a  fifth  of  the  proud  array  with 
which  he  had  won  the  battle  of  Najera. 


PETER  THE  CRUEL  AND  THE  FREE  COMPANIES.      167 

The  restored  king  soon  justified  his  title  of  Peter 
the  Cruel  by  a  series  of  sanguinary  executions,  mur- 
dering all  of  the  adherents  of  his  rival  on  whom  he 
could  lay  his  hands.  In  this  thirst  for  revenge  not 
even  women  escaped,  and  at  length  he  committed  an 
act  which  aroused  the  indignation  of  the  whole  king- 
dom. Don  Alfonso  de  Guzman  had  refused  to  follow 
the  king  into  exile.  He  now  kept  out  of  his  reach, 
but  his  mother,  Dona  Urraca  de  Osorio,  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  monster,  and  was  punished  for  being 
the  mother  of  a  rebel  by  being  burned  alive  on  the 
ramparts  of  Seville. 

These  excesses  of  cruelty  roused  a  rebellious  sen- 
timent throughout  Castile,  of  which  Henry,  who 
had  escaped  to  Aragon  from  the  field  of  Najera,  took 
advantage.  Supplied  with  money  by  the  king  of 
France,  he  purchased  arms  and  recruited  soldiers, 
many  of  the  French  and  Castilians  who  had  been 
taken  prisoners  at  JS'ajera  and  been  released  on  parole 
joining  him  in  hopes  of  winning  the  means  of  paying 
their  ransoms.  Crossing  the  Ebro,  he  marched  upon 
Calahorra,  in  which  the  year  before  he  had  been 
proclaimed  king.  Here  numerous  volunteers  joined 
him,  and  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force  he 
marched  upon  Burgos,  which  surrendered  after  a 
faint  show  of  resistance. 

During  the  winter  the  campaign  continued,  Leon, 
Madrid,  and  other  towns  being  captured,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1368  all  northern  Castile  was  in  Henry's 
hands.  Don  Pedro,  whose  army  was  small,  had 
entered  into  alliance  with  the  Moorish  king  of 
Granada,  who  sent  him  an  army  of  thirty-five  thou- 


168  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

sand  men,  with  which  force  a  vigorous  attack  was 
made  on  the  city  of  Cordova, — a  holy  city  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Moors.  Among  its  defenders  was  Don 
Alfonso  de  Guzman,  whose  mother  had  been  burned 
to  death.  The  defence  was  obstinate,  but  the  Moors 
at  length  made  breaches  in  the  walls.  They  were 
about  to  pour  into  the  city  when  the  women,  mad 
with  fear,  rushed  into  the  streets  with  cries  and 
moans,  now  reproaching  the  men-at-arms  with  cow- 
ardice, now  begging  them  with  sobs  and  tears  to 
make  a  last  eifort  to  save  the  city  from  the  brutal 
infidels. 

This  appeal  gave  new  courage  to  the  Christians. 
They  rushed  on  the  Moors  with  the  fury  of  despair, 
drove  them  from  the  posts  they  had  taken,  hurled 
them  from  the  ramparts,  tore  down  the  black  flags 
which  already  waved  on  the  towers,  and  finally  ex- 
pelled them  from  the  breaches  and  the  walls  in  a 
panic.  The  breaches  were  repaired  and  the  city  was 
saved.  In  a  few  days  the  Moors,  thoroughly  dis- 
heartened by  their  repulse,  dispersed,  and  Don  Pedro 
lost  his  allies. 

Meanwhile,  Henry  was  engaged  in  the  siege  of 
Toledo,  the  strongest  place  in  the  kingdom,  and  be- 
fore which  he  persistently  lay  for  months,  despite 
all  allurements  to  use  his  forces  in  other  directions. 
Here  Bertrand  du  Guesclin,  who  had  been  ransomed 
by  the  Black  Prince,  joined  him  with  a  force  of 
some  six  hundred  men-at-arms,  all  picked  men  ;  and 
hither,  in  March,  1369,  Don  Pedro  marched  to  the 
city's  relief  at  the  head  of  a  strong  army. 

Henry,  on  learning  of  this  movement,   at  once 


^IBTER  THE  CRUEL  AND  THE   FREE   COMPANIES.      16^ 

gathered  all  the  forces  he  could  spare  from  the  siege, 
three  thousand  men-at-arms  in  all,  and  hastened  to 
intercept  his  rival  on  the  march.  !N"ot  dreaming  of 
such  a  movement,  Don  Pedro  had  halted  at  Montiel, 
where  his  men  lay  dispersed,  in  search  of  food  and 
forage,  over  a  space  of  several  leagues.  They  were 
attacked  at  daybreak,  their  surprise  being  so  com- 
plete that  the  main  body  was  at  once  put  to  flight, 
while  each  division  was  routed  as  soon  as  it  appeared. 
Henry's  forces  suffered  almost  no  loss,  and  within  an 
hour's  time  his  rival's  kingdom  was  reduced  to  the 
castle  of  Montiel,  in  which  he  had  taken  refuge  with 
a  few  of  his  followers. 

Leaving  the  defeated  army  to  take  care  of  itself, 
Henry  devoted  himself  to  the  siege  of  the  castle, 
within  whose  poorly  fortified  walls  lay  the  prize  for 
which  he  fought.  Escape  was  impossible,  and  the 
small  supply  of  provisions  would  soon  be  exhausted. 
Don  Pedro's  only  hope  was  to  bribe  some  of  his  foes. 
He  sent  an  agent  to  Du  Guesclin,  offering  him  a  rich 
reward  in  gold  and  lands  if  he  would  aid  in  his  es- 
cape. Du  Guesclin  asked  for  time  to  consider,  and 
immediately  informed  Henry  of  the  whole  transac- 
tion. He  was  at  once  offered  a  richer  reward  than 
Pedro  had  promised  if  he  would  entice  the  king  out 
of  the  castle,  and  after  some  hesitation  and  much 
persuasion  he  consented. 

On  the  night  of  March  23,  ten  days  after  the 
battle,  Don  Pedro,  accompanied  by  several  of  his 
knights,  secretly  left  the  fortress,  the  feet  of  their 
horses  being  bound  with  cloth  to  deaden  the  sound 
of  hoofs.     The  sentinels,  who  had  been  instructed 


170  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

in  advance,  allowed  them  to  pass,  and  they  ap- 
proached the  carap  of  the  French  adventurers,  where 
Du  Guesclin  was  waiting  to  receive  them. 

"  To  horse,  Messire  Bertrand,"  said  the  king,  in  a 
low  voice ;  "  it  is  time  to  set  out." 

No  answer  was  returned.  This  silence  frightened 
Don  Pedro.  He  attempted  to  spring  into  his  saddle, 
but  he  was  surrounded,  and  a  man-at-arms  held  the 
bridle  of  his  horse.  An  officer  asked  him  to  wait  in 
a  neighboring  tent.  Eesistance  was  impossible,  and 
he  silently  obeyed. 

Here  he  found  himself  encompassed  by  a  voiceless 
group,  through  whose  lines,  after  a  few  minutes  of 
dread  suspense,  a  man  in  full  armor  advanced.  It 
was  Henry  of  Trastamara,  who  now  faced  his  brother 
for  the  first  time  in  fifteen  years.  He  gazed 
with  searching  eyes  upon  Don  Pedro  and  his  fol- 
lowers. 

"  Where  is  this  bastard,"  he  harshly  asked,  "  this 
Jew  who  calls  himself  King  of  Castile?" 

"  There  stands  your  enemy,"  said  a  French  esquire, 
pointing  to  Don  Pedro. 

Henry  gazed  at  him  fixedly.  So  many  years  had 
elapsed  that  he  failed  to  recognize  him  easily. 

"  Yes,  it  is  I,"  exclaimed  Don  Pedro,  "  I,  the  King 
of  Castile.  All  the  world  knows  that  I  am  the  legit- 
imate son  of  good  King  Alfonso.  It  is  thou  that 
art  the  bastard." 

At  this  insult  Henry  drew  his  dagger  and  struck 
the  speaker  a  light  blow  in  the  face.  They  were  in 
too  close  a  circle  to  draw  their  swords,  and  in  mortal 
fury  they  seized  each  other  by  the  waist  and  strug- 


1>ETER  THE  CRUEL  AND  THE  FREE  COMPANIES.      171 

gled  furiously,  the  men  around  drawing  back  and  no 
one  attempting  to  interfere. 

After  a  brief  period  the  wrestling  brothers  fell  on 
a  camp  bed  in  a  corner  of  the  tent,  Don  Pedro,  who 
was  the  stronger,  being  uppermost.  While  he  felt 
desperately  for  a  weapon  with  which  to  pierce  his 
antagonist,  one  of  those  present  seized  him  by  the 
foot  and  threw  him  on  one  side,  so  that  Henry  found 
himself  uppermost.  Popular  tradition  says  that  it 
was  Du  Guesclin's  hand  that  did  this  act,  and  that 
he  cried,  •'  I  neither  make  nor  unmake  kings,  but  I 
serve  my  lord ;"  but  Froissart  and  others  say  it  was 
the  Yiscount  de  Eocaberti,  of  Aragon. 

However  that  be,  Henry  at  once  took  advan- 
tage of  the  opportunity,  picked  up  his  dagger,  lifted 
the  king's  coat  of  mail,  and  plunged  the  weapon 
again  and  again  into  his  side.  Only  two  of  Don 
Pedro's  companions  sought  to  defend  him,  and  they 
were  killed  on  the  spot.  Henry  had  his  brother's 
head  at  once  cut  off,  and  despatched  the  gruesome 
relic  to  Seville. 

Thus  perished,  by  an  uncalled-for  act  of  treachery 
on  the  part  of  Du  Guesclin,  for  the  castle  must  soon 
have  surrendered,  one  of  the  most  bloodthirsty  kings 
who  ever  sat  upon  a  throne.  Don  Fadrique,  his 
brother,  and  Blanche  of  Bourbon,  his  wife,  both  of 
whom  he  had  basely  murdered,  were  at  length 
avenged.  Henry  ascended  the  throne  as  Henry  II., 
and  for  years  reigned  over  Castile  with  a  mild  and 
just  rule  that  threw  still  deeper  horror  upon  the 
bloody  career  of  him  who  is  known  in  history  as 
Peter  the  Cruel. 


THE  GREAT  CAPTAIN. 


The  long  and  bitter  war  for  the  conquest  of  Gra- 
nada filled  Spain  with  trained  soldiers  and  skilful 
leaders,  men  who  had  seen  service  on  a  hundred 
fields,  grim,  daring  veterans,  without  their  equals  in 
Europe.  The  Spanish  foot-soldiers  of  that  day  were 
inflexibly  resolute,  the  cavalry  were  skilled  in  the 
brilliant  tactics  of  the  Moors,  and  the  leaders  were 
men  experienced  in  all  the  arts  of  war.  These  were 
the  soldiers  who  in  the  New  World  overthrew  empires 
with  a  handful  of  adventurers,  and  within  a  fraction 
of  a  century  conquered  a  continent  for  Spain.  In 
Europe  they  were  kept  actively  employed.  Charles 
YIII.  of  France,  moved  by  ambition  and  thirst  for 
glory,  led  an  army  of  invasion  into  Italy.  He  was 
followed  in  this  career  of  foreign  conquest  by  his 
successor,  Louis  XII.  The  armies  of  France  were 
opposed  by  those  of  Spain,  led  by  the  greatest  sol- 
dier of  the  age,  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova,  a  man  who 
had  learned  the  art  of  war  in  Granada,  but  in  Italy 
showed  such  brilliant  and  remarkable  powers  that 
he  gained  the  distinguishing  title  of  the  Great  Cap- 
tain. 

These  wars  were  stretched  out  over  years,  and  the 

most  we  can  do  is  to  give  some  of  their  interesting 

incidents.     In    1502  the  Great  Captain   lay  in  the 

far  south  of  Italy,  faced  by  a  more  powerful  French 

172 


THE  GREAT  CAPTAIN.  173 

army  under  the  Duke  of  Nemours,  a  young  noble- 
man not  wanting  in  courage,  but  quite  unfit  to  cope 
with  the  experienced  veteran  before  him.  Gonsalvo, 
however,  was  in  no  condition  to  try  conclusions  with 
his  well-appointed  enemy.  His  little  corps  was  des- 
titute of  proper  supplies,  the  men  had  been  so  long 
unpaid  that  they  were  mutinous,  he  had  pleaded  for 
reinforcements  in  vain,  and  the  most  he  could  do  was 
to  concentrate  his  small  force  in  the  seaport  of  Bar- 
leta  and  the  neighboring  strongholds,  and  make  the 
best  show  he  could  in  the  face  of  his  powerful  foe. 

The  war  now  declined  into  foraging  inroads  on 
the  part  of  the  French,  in  which  they  swept  the 
flocks  and  herds  from  the  fertile  pastures,  and  into 
guerilla  operations  on  the  part  of  the  Spanish,  who 
ambushed  and  sought  to  cut  off  the  detached  troops 
of  the  enemy.  But  more  romantic  encounters  oc- 
casionally took  place.  The  knights  on  both  sides, 
full  of  the  spirit  of  chivalry,  and  eager  to  prove  their 
prowess,  defied  one  another  to  jousts  and  tourneys, 
and  for  the  time  being  brought  back  a  state  of  war- 
fare then  fast  passing  away. 

The  most  striking  of  these  meetings  arose  from 
the  contempt  with  which  the  French  knights  spoke 
of  the  cavalry  of  their  enemy,  which  they  declared  to 
be  far  inferior  to  their  own.  This  insult,  when  told 
to  the  proud  knights  of  Gonsalvo's  army,  brought 
from  them  a  challenge  to  the  knights  of  France, 
and  a  warlike  meeting  between  eleven  Spanish  and 
as  many  French  warriors  w^as  arranged.  A  fair 
field  was  offered  the  combatants  in  the  neutral  terri- 
tory under  the  walls  of  the  Venetian  city  of  Trani, 


174  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

and  on  the  appointed  day  a  gallant  array  of  well- 
armed  knights  of  both  parties  appeared  to  guard  the 
lists  and  maintain  the  honor  of  the  tournament. 

Spectators  crowded  the  roofs  and  battlements  of 
Trani,  while  the  lists  were  thronged  with  French  and 
Spanish  cavaliers,  who  for  the  time  laid  aside  their 
enmity  in  favor  of  national  honor  and  a  fair  fight. 
At  the  fixed  hour  the  champions  rode  into  the  lists, 
armed  at  all  points,  and  their  horses  richly  capari- 
soned and  covered  with  steel  panoply.  Among  those 
on  the  Castilian  side  were  Diego  de  Paredes  and 
Diego  de  Yera,  men  who  had  won  renown  in  the 
Moorish  wars.  Most  conspicuous  on  the  other  side 
was  the  good  knight  Pierre  de  Bayard,  the  chevalier 
^^  sans  peur  et  sans  reproche,'"  who  was  then  entering 
upon  his  famous  career. 

At  the  sound  of  the  signal  trumpets  the  hostile 
parties  rushed  to  the  encounter,  meeting  in  the 
centre  of  the  lists  with  a  shock  that  hurled  three  of 
the  Spaniards  from  their  saddle,  while  four  of  their 
antagonists'  horses  were  slain.  The  fight,  which 
began  at  ten  in  the  morning,  and  was  to  end  at  sun- 
set, if  not  concluded  before,  was  prosecuted  with 
great  fury  and  varied  success.  Long  before  the 
hour  of  closing  all  the  French  were  dismounted  ex- 
cept the  Chevalier  Bayard  and  one  of  his  compan- 
ions, their  horses,  at  which  the  Spaniards  had 
specially  aimed,  being  disabled  or  slain.  Seven  of 
the  Spaniards  were  still  on  horseback,  and  pressed 
so  hard  upon  their  antagonists  that  the  victory 
seemed  safely  theirs. 

But  Bayard  and  his  comrade  bravely  held  their 


THE   GREAT  CAPTAIN.  176 

own,  while  the  others,  intrenched  behind  their  dead 
horses,  defended  themselves  vigorously  with  sword 
and  shield,  the  Spaniards  vainly  attempting  to  spui' 
their  terrified  horses  over  the  barrier.  The  fight 
went  on  in  this  way  until  the  sun  sank  below  the 
horizon,  when,  both  parties  still  holding  the  field, 
neither  was  given  the  palm  of  victory,  all  the  com- 
batants being  declared  to  have  proved  themselves 
good  and  valiant  knights. 

Both  parties  now  met  in  the  centre  of  the  lists, 
where  the  combatants  embraced  as  true  companions 
in  chivalry,  "  making  good  cheer  together"  before 
they  separated.  But  the  Great  Captain  did  not  re- 
ceive the  report  of  the  result  with  favor. 

"  We  have,"  said  one  of  his  knights,  "  disproved 
the  taunts  of  the  Frenchmen,  and  shown  ourselves 
as  good  horsemen  as  they." 

"I  sent  you  for  better,"  Gonsalvo  coldly  re- 
plied. 

A  second  combat  in  which  the  Chevalier  Bayard 
was  concerned  met  with  a  more  tragic  termination. 
A  Spanish  cavalier,  Alonzo  de  Sotomayor,  com- 
plained that  Bayard  had  treated  him  uncourteously 
while  holding  him  prisoner.  Bayard  denied  the 
charge,  and  defied  the  Spaniard  to  prove  it  by  force 
of  arms,  on  horse  or  on  foot,  as  he  preferred.  Soto- 
mayor, well  knowing  Bayard's  skill  as  a  horseman, 
challenged  him  to  a  battle  on  foot  a  Voutrance,  or  "  to 
the  death." 

At  the  appointed  time  the  two  combatants  entered 
the  lists,  armed  with  sword  and  dagger  and  in  com- 
plete armor,  though  wearing  their  visors  up.     For 


176  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

a  few  minutes  both  knelt  in  silent  prayer.  They 
then  rose,  crossed  themselves,  and  advanced  to  the 
combat,  "the  good  knight  Bayard,"  we  are  told, 
"  moving  as  light  of  step  as  if  he  were  going  to  lead 
some  fair  lady  down  the  dance." 

Bayard  was  the  smaller  man  of  the  two,  and  still 
felt  weakness  from  a  fever  which  had  recently  pros- 
trated him.  The  Spaniard,  taking  advantage  of  this, 
sought  to  crush  him  by  the  weight  of  his  blows,  or 
to  close  with  him  and  bring  him  to  the  ground  by 
dint  of  his  superior  strength.  But  the  lightness  and 
agility  of  the  French  knight  enabled  him  to  avoid 
the  Spaniard's  grasp,  while,  by  skill  with  the  sword, 
he  parried  his  enemy's  strokes,  and  dealt  him  an 
occasional  one  in  return. 

At  length,  the  Spaniard  having  exposed  himself 
to  attack  by  an  ill-directed  blow.  Bayard  got  in  so 
sharp  a  thrust  on  the  gorget  that  it  gave  way,  and 
the  point  of  the  blade  entered  his  throat.  Maddened 
by  the  pain  of  the  wound,  Sotomayor  leaped  furi- 
ously on  his  antagonist  and  grasped  him  in  his  arms, 
both  rolling  on  the  ground  together.  While  thus 
clasped  in  fierce  struggle  Bayard,  who  had  kept  his 
poniard  in  his  left  hand  throughout  the  fight,  while 
his  enemy  had  left  his  in  his  belt,  drove  the  steel 
home  under  his  eye  with  such  force  that  it  pierced 
through  his  brain. 

As  the  victor  sprang  to  his  feet,  the  judges  awarded 
him  the  honors  of  the  day,  and  the  minstrels  began 
to  pour  forth  triumphant  strains  in  his  honor.  The 
good  knight,  however,  bade  them  desist,  as  it  was 
BO  time  for  gratulation  when  a  good  knight  lay  dead, 


THE   GREAT   CAPTAIN.  177 

and^  first  kneeling  and  returning  grateful  thanks  for 
his  victory,  he  walked  slowly  from  the  lists,  saying 
that  he  was  sorry  for  the  result  of  the  combat,  and 
wished,  since  his  honor  was  saved,  that  his  antago- 
nist had  lived. 

In  these  passages  at  arras  we  discern  the  fading 
gleam  of  the  spirit  of  mediaeval  chivalry,  soon  to 
vanish  before  the  new  art  of  war.  Eough  and  vio- 
lent as  were  these  displays  as  compared  with  the 
pastimes  of  later  days,  the  magnificence  with  which 
they  were  conducted,  and  the  manifestations  of 
knightly  honor  and  courtesy  which  attended  them, 
threw  something  of  grace  and  softness  over  an  age 
in  which  ferocity  was  the  ruling  spirit. 

Meanwhile,  the  position  of  the  little  garrison  of 
Barleta  grew  daily  worse.  E'o  help  came,  the 
French  gradually  occupied  the  strongholds  of  the 
neighboring  country,  and  a  French  fleet  in  the  Adri- 
atic stood  seriously  in  the  way  of  the  arrival  of  stores 
and  reinforcements.  But  the  Great  Captain  main- 
tained his  cheerfulness  through  all  discouragement, 
and  sought  to  infuse  his  spirit  into  the  hearts  of  his 
followers.  His  condition  would  have  been  desperate 
with  an  able  opponent,  but  he  perfectly  understood 
the  character  of  the  French  commander  and  patiently 
bided  his  time. 

The  opportunity  came.  The  French,  weary  of  the 
slow  game  of  blockade,  marched  from  their  quarters 
and  appeared  before  the  walls  of  Barleta,  bent  on 
drawing  the  garrison  from  the  "old  den"  and  de- 
ciding the  affair  in  a  pitched  battle.  The  Duke  of 
Nemours  sent  a  trumpet  into  the  town  to  defy  the 

12 


178  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

Great  Captain  to  the  encounter,  but  the  latter  coolly 
sent  back  word, — 

''It  is  my  custom  to  choose  my  own  time  and 
place  for  fighting,  and  I  would  thank  the  Due  de 
Nemours  to  wait  till  my  men  have  time  to  shoe  their 
horses  and  burnish  up  their  arms." 

The  duke  waited  a  few  days,  then,  finding  that  he 
could  not  decoy  his  wily  foe  from  the  walls,  broke 
camp  and  marched  back,  proud  of  having  flaunted 
a  challenge  in  the  face  of  the  enemy.  He  knew  not 
Gonsalvo.  The  French  had  not  gone  far  before  the 
latter  opened  the  gates  and  sent  out  his  whole  force 
of  cavalry,  under  Diego  de  Mendoza,  with  two  corps 
of  infantry,  in  rapid  pursuit.  Mendoza  was  so  eager 
that  he  left  the  infantry  in  the  rear,  and  fell  on  the 
French  before  they  had  got  many  miles  away. 

A  lively  skirmish  followed,  though  of  short  dura- 
tion, Mendoza  quickly  retiring,  pursued  by  the 
French  rear-guard,  whose  straggling  march  had  de- 
tached it  from  the  main  body  of  the  army.  Men- 
doza's  feigned  retreat  soon  brought  him  back  to  the 
infantry  columns,  which  closed  in  on  the  enemy's 
flanks,  while  the  flying  cavalry  wheeled  in  the  rapid 
Moorish  style  and  charged  their  pursuers  boldly  in 
front.  All  was  now  confusion  in  the  French  ranks. 
Some  resisted,  but  the  greater  part,  finding  them- 
selves entrapped,  sought  to  escape.  In  the  end, 
nearly  all  who  did  not  fall  on  the  field  were  carried 
prisoners  to  Barleta,  under  whose  walls  Gonsalvo 
had  drawn  up  his  whole  army,  in  readiness  to  sup- 
port Mendoza  if  necessary.  The  whole  affair  had 
passed  so  quickly  that  Nemours  knew  nothing  of  it 


THE   GREAT   CAPTAIN.  179 

until  the  bulk  of  his  rear-guard  were  safely  lodged 
Avithin  the  walls  of  the  Spanish  stronghold. 

This  brilliant  success  proved  the  turning-point  in 
the  tide  of  the  war.  A  convoy  of  transports  soon 
after  reached  Barleta,  bringing  in  an  abundance  of 
provisions,  and  the  Spaniards,  restored  in  health 
and  spirits,  looked  eagerly  for  some  new  enterprise. 
]S"emours  having  incautiously  set  out  on  a  distant 
expedition,  Gonsalvo  at  once  fell  on  the  town  of 
Euvo  and  took  it  by  storm,  in  spite  of  a  most  obsti- 
nate defence.  On  April  28,  1503,  Gonsalvo,  strength- 
ened by  reinforcements,  finally  left  the  stronghold 
of  Barleta,  where  he  and  his  followers  had  suffered 
so  severely  and  shown  such  indomitable  constancy. 
Reaching  Cerignola,  about  sixteen  miles  from  Bar- 
leta, he  awaited  the  advancing  army  of  the  French, 
rapidly  intrenching  the  ground,  which  was  well 
suited  for  defence.  Before  these  works  were  com- 
pleted, Nemours  and  his  army  appeared,  and,  though 
it  was  near  nightfall,  made  an  immediate  attack. 
The  commander  was  incited  to  this  by  taunts  on 
his  courage  from  some  hot-headed  subordinates,  to 
whom  he  weakly  gave  way,  saying,  "  We  will  fight 
to-night,  then ;  and  perhaps  those  who  vaunt  the 
loudest  will  be  found  to  trust  more  to  their  spurs 
than  to  their  swords," — a  prediction  which  was  to 
prove  true. 

Of  the  battle,  it  must  suffice  to  say  that  the 
trenches  dug  by  the  Spaniards  fatally  checked  the 
French  advance,  and  in  the  effort  to  find  a  passage 
Nemours  fell  mortally  wounded.  Soon  the  French 
lines   were  in   confusion,  the   Spanish  arquebusiers 


180  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

pouring  a  galling  fire  into  their  dense  masses.  Per- 
ceiving the  situation,  Gonsalvo  ordered  a  general 
advance,  and,  leaping  their  intrenchments,  the  Span- 
iards rushed  in  fury  on  their  foes,  most  of  whose 
leaders  had  fallen.  Panic  succeeded,  and  the  flying 
French  were  cut  down  almost  without  resistance. 

The  next  morning  the  Great  Captain  passed  over 
the  field  of  battle,  where  lay  more  than  three  thou- 
sand of  the  French,  half  their  entire  force.  The 
loss  of  the  Spaniards  was  very  small,  and  all  the  ar- 
tillery, the  baggage,  and  most  of  the  colors  of  the 
enemy  were  in  their  hands.  Earely  had  so  complete 
a  victory  been  gained  in  so  brief  a  time,  the  battle 
being  hardly  more  than  one  hour  in  duration.  The 
body  of  the  unfortunate  Duke  of  Nemours  was  found 
under  a  heap  of  the  slain,  much  disfigured  and  bear- 
ing  the  marks  of  three  wounds.  Gonsalvo  was  af- 
fected to  tears  at  the  sight  of  the  mutilated  body  of 
his  young  and  gallant  adversary,  who,  though  un- 
fitted to  head  an  army,  had  always  proved  himself  a 
valiant  knight.  During  the  following  month  Gon- 
salvo entered  iNTaples,  the  main  prize  of  the  war, 
where  he  was  received  with  acclamations  of  joy  and 
given  the  triumph  which  his  brilliant  exploits  so 
richly  deserved. 

The  work  of  the  Great  Captain  was  not  yet  at  an 
end.  Finding  that  his  forces  were  being  defeated  in 
every  encounter  and  the  cities  held  by  them  captured, 
Louis  XII.  sent  a  large  army  to  their  relief,  and  late 
in  the  year  1503  the  hostile  forces  came  face  to  face 
again,  Gonsalvo  being  forced  by  the  exigencies  of 
the  campaign  to  encamp  in  a  deplorable  situation,  a 


THE   GREAT   CAPTAIN.  181 

region  of  swamp,  which  had  been  converted  by  the 
incessant  rains  into  a  mere  quagmire.  The  French 
occupied  higher  ground  and  were  much  more  com- 
fortably situated.  But  Gonsalvo  refused  to  move. 
He  was  playing  his  old  waiting  game,  knowing  that 
the  French  dared  not  attack  his  intrenched  camp, 
and  that  time  would  work  steadily  in  his  favor. 

"  It  is  indispensable  to  the  public  service  to  main- 
tain our  present  position,"  he  said  to  the  officers  who 
appealed  to  him  to  move ;  "  and  be  assured,  I  would 
sooner  march  forward  two  steps,  though  it  would 
bring  me  to  my  grave,  than  fall  back  one,  to  gain  a 
hundred  years  of  life." 

After  that  there  were  no  more  appeals.  Gonsalvo's 
usual  cheerfulness  was  maintained,  infusing  spirit 
into  his  men  in  all  the  inconveniences  of  their  situ- 
ation. He  had  a  well-planned  object  in  view.  The 
hardy  Spaniards,  long  used  to  rough  campaigning, 
bore  their  trying  position  with  unyielding  resolution. 
The  French,  on  the  contrary,  largely  new  recruits, 
grew  weary  and  mutinous,  while  sickness  broke  out 
in  their  ranks  and  increased  with  alarming  rapidity. 

At  length  Gonsalvo's  day  came.  His  opponent, 
not  dreaming  of  an  attack,  had  extended  his  men 
over  a  wide  space.  On  the  night  of  December  28, 
in  darkness  and  storm,  the  Spanish  army  broke 
camp,  marched  to  the  river  that  divided  the  forces, 
silently  threw  a  bridge  across  the  stream,  and  were 
soon  on  its  opposite  side.  Here  they  fell  like  a 
thunderbolt  on  the  unsuspecting  and  unprepared 
French,  who  were  soon  in  disordered  retreat,  hotly 
pursued  by  their  foes,  their  knights  vainly  attempting 


182  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

to  check  the  enemy.  Bayard  had  three  horses  killed 
under  him,  and  was  barely  rescued  from  death  by  a 
friend.  So  utterly  were  the  French  beaten  that 
their  discouraged  garrisons  gave  up  town  after  town 
without  a  blow,  and  that  brilliant  night's  work  not 
only  ended  the  control  of  France  over  the  kingdom 
of  Naples,  but  filled  Louis  XII.  with  apprehension 
of  losing  all  his  possessions  in  Italy. 

Such  were  the  most  brilliant  exploits  of  the  man 
who  well  earned  the  proud  title  of  the  Great  Captain. 
He  was  as  generous  in  victory  as  vigorous  in  battle, 
and  as  courteous  and  genial  with  all  he  met  as  if  he 
had  been  a  courtier  instead  of  a  soldier.  In  the  end, 
his  striking  and  unbroken  success  in  war  aroused  the 
envy  and  jealousy  of  King  Ferdinand,  and  after  the 
return  of  Gonsalvo  to  Spain  the  unjust  monarch 
kept  him  in  retirement  till  his  death,  putting  smaller 
men  at  the  head  of  his  armies  rather  than  permit  the 
greatest  soldier  of  the  century  to  throw  his  own 
exploits  more  deeply  into  the  shade. 


A  KING  IN  CAPTIVITY. 


Two  great  rivals  were  on  the  thrones  of  France 
and  Spain, — Francis  I.,  who  came  to  power  in  France 
in  1515,  and  Charles  I.,  who  became  king  of  Spain  in 
1516.  In  1519  they  were  rivals  for  the  imperial 
power  in  Germany.  Charles  gained  the  German 
throne,  being  afterwards  known  as  the  emperor 
Charles  Y.,  and  during  the  remainder  of  their  reigns 
these  rival  monarchs  were  frequently  at  war.  A 
league  was  formed  against  the  French  king  by 
Charles  Y.,  Henry  YIII.  of  England,  and  Pope  Leo 
X.,  as  a  result  of  which  the  French  were  driven  from 
the  territory  of  Milan,  in  Italy.  In  1524  they  were 
defeated  at  the  battle  of  Sesia,  the  famous  Chevalier 
Bayard  here  falling  with  a  mortal  wound ;  and  in 
1525  they  met  with  a  more  disastrous  defeat  at  the 
battle  of  Pavia,  whose  fatal  result  to  the  French 
caused  Francis  to  write  to  his  mother,  "  Madame^ 
tout  est  perdu  fors  Vhonneur"  ("All  is  lost  but  honor"). 

The  reason  for  these  words  may  be  briefly  given. 
Francis  was  besieging  Pavia,  with  hopes  of  a  speedy 
surrender,  when  the  forces  of  Charles  marched  to 
its  relief.  The  most  experienced  French  generals 
advised  the  king  to  retire,  but  he  refused.  He  had 
said  he  would  take  Pavia  or  perish  in  the  attempt, 
and  a  romantic  notion  of  honor  held  him  fast.  The 
result  was  ruinous,  as  may  be  expected  where  sen- 

183 


184  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

timent  outweighs  prudence.  Strongly  as  the  French 
were  intrenched,  they  were  broken  and  put  to  rout, 
and  soon  there  was  no  resistance  except  where  the 
king  obstinately  continued  to  fight. 

Wounded  in  several  places,  and  thrown  from  his 
horse,  which  was  killed  under  him,  Francis  defended 
himself  on  foot  with  heroic  valor,  while  the  group 
of  brave  officers  who  sought  to  save  his  life,  one 
after  another,  lost  their  own.  At  length,  exhausted 
with  his  efforts,  and  barely  able  to  wield  his  sword, 
the  king  was  left  almost  alone,  exposed  to  the  fierce 
assault  of  some  Spanish  soldiers,  who  were  enraged 
by  his  obstinacy  and  ignorant  of  his  rank. 

At  this  moment  a  French  gentleman  named  Pom- 
perant,  who  had  entered  the  service  of  Spain,  recog- 
nized the  struggling  king  and  hurried  to  his  aid, 
helping  to  keep  off  the  assailants,  and  begging  him 
to  suiTender  to  the  Duke  of  Bourbon,  who  was  close 
at  hand.  Great  as  was  the  peril,  Francis  indignantly 
refused  to  surrender  to  a  rebel  and  traitor,  as  he 
held  Bourbon  to  be,  and  calling  to  Lannoy,  a  general 
in  the  imperial  army  who  was  also  near  by,  he  gave 
up  his  sword  to  him.  Lannoy,  recognizing  his  pris- 
oner, received  the  sword  with  a  show  of  the  deepest 
respect,  and  handed  the  king  his  own  in  return, 
saying,— 

"  It  does  not  become  so  great  a  monarch  to  remain 
disarmed  in  the  presence  of  one  of  the  emperor's 
subjects." 

The  lack  of  prudence  in  Francis  had  proved  se- 
rious not  only  to  himself,  but  to  his  troops,  ten 
thousand  of  whom  fell,  among  them  many  distin- 


A  KING  IN   CAPTIVITY.  185 

guished  nobles  who  preferred  death  to  dishonor. 
Numbers  of  high  rank  were  taken  prisoners,  among 
them  the  king  of  Navarre.  In  two  weeks  not  a 
Frenchman  remained  in  Italy.  The  gains  from 
years  of  war  had  vanished  in  a  single  battle. 

The  tidings  of  the  captivity  of  the  French  king 
filled  France  with  consternation  and  Spain  with  de- 
light, while  to  all  Europe  it  was  an  event  of  the 
deepest  concern,  for  all  the  nations  felt  the  danger 
that  might  arise  from  the  ambition  of  the  powerful 
emperor  of  Spain  and  Germany.  Henry  YIII.  re- 
quested that  Francis  should  be  delivered  to  him,  as 
an  ally  of  Spain,  though  knowing  well  that  such  a 
demand  would  not  gain  a  moment's  consideration. 
As  for  Italy,  it  was  in  terror  lest  it  should  be  over- 
run by  the  imperial  armies. 

Francis,  whom  Lannoy  held  with  great  respect, 
but  with  the  utmost  care  to  prevent  an  escape, 
hoped  much  from  the  generosity  of  Charles,  whose 
disposition  he  judged  from  his  own.  He  was  soon 
undeceived.  Charles  refused  to  set  him  free  unless 
he  would  renounce  all  claims  upon  Italy,  yield  the 
provinces  of  Provence  and  Dauphine  to  form  a 
kingdom  for  the  Constable  Bourbon,  and  give  up 
Burgundy  to  Germany.  On  hearing  these  severe 
conditions,  Francis,  in  a  transport  of  rage,  drew  his 
dagger,  exclaiming, — 

"  It  were  better  that  a  king  should  die  thus !" 

A  by-stander  arrested  the  thrust;  but,  though 
Francis  soon  regained  his  composure,  he  declared 
that  he  would  remain  a  prisoner  for  life  rather  than 
purchase  liberty  at  such  a  price  to  his  country. 


186  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

Thinking  that  these  conditions  came  from  the 
Spanish  council,  and  not  from  Charles  himself, 
Francis  now  became  anxious  to  visit  the  emperor  in 
Spain,  hoping  to  soften  him  in  a  personal  interview. 
He  even  furnished  the  galleys  for  that  purpose, 
Charles  at  that  time  being  too  poor  to  fit  out  a 
squadron,  and  soon  the  spectacle  was  seen  of  a  cap- 
tive monarch  sailing  in  his  own  ships  past  his  own 
dominions,  of  which  he  had  a  distant  and  sorrowful 
view,  to  a  land  in  which  he  was  to  suffer  the  indigni- 
ties of  prison  life. 

Landing  at  Barcelona,  Francis  was  taken  to 
Madrid  and  lodged  in  the  alcazar,  under  the  most 
vigilant  guard.  He  soon  found  that  he  had  been  far 
too  hasty  in  trusting  to  the  generosity  of  his  cap- 
tor. Charles,  on  learning  of  his  captivity,  had  made 
a  politic  show  of  sympathy  and  feeling,  but  on  get- 
ting his  rival  fully  into  his  hands  manifested  a  plain 
intention  of  forcing  upon  him  the  hardest  bargain 
possible.  Instead  of  treating  his  prisoner  with  the 
courtesy  due  from  one  monarch  to  another,  he 
seemed  to  seek  by  rigorous  usage  to  force  from  him 
a  great  ransom. 

The  captive  king  was  confined  in  an  old  castle, 
under  a  keeper  of  such  formal  austerity  of  manners 
as  added  to  the  disgust  of  the  high-spirited  French 
monarch.  The  only  exercise  -allowed  him  was  to 
ride  on  a  mule,  surrounded  by  armed  guards  on 
horseback.  Though  Francis  pressingly  solicited  an 
interview,  Charles  suffered  several  weeks  to  pass 
before  going  near  him.  These  indignities  made  so 
deep  an  impression  on  the  prisoner  that  his  natural 


fL   KING   IN   CAPTIVITY.  187 

lightness  of  temper  deserted  him,  and  after  a  period 
of  deep  depression  he  fell  into  a  dangerous  fever,  in 
which  he  bitterly  complained  of  the  harshness  with 
which  he  had  been  treated,  and  said  that  the  em- 
peror would  now  have  the  satisfaction  of  having  his 
captive  die  on  his  hands. 

The  physicians  at  length  despaired  of  his  life,  and 
informed  Charles  that  they  saw  no  hope  of  his  re- 
covery unless  he  was  granted  the  interview  he  so 
deeply  desired.  This  news  put  the  emperor  into  a 
quandary.  If  Francis  should  die,  all  the  advantage 
gained  from  the  battle  of  Pavia  would  be  lost.  And 
there  were  clouds  in  the  sky  elsewhere.  Henry 
yill.  had  concluded  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  Queen 
Louise,  regent  of  France,  and  engaged  to  use  all  his 
efforts  for  the  release  of  the  king.  In  Italy  a  dan- 
gerous conspiracy  had  been  detected.  There  was 
danger  of  a  general  European  confederacy  against 
him  unless  he  should  come  to  some  speedy  agree- 
ment with  the  captive  king. 

Charles,  moved  by  these  various  considerations,  at 
length  visited  Francis,  and,  with  a  show  of  respect 
and  affection,  gave  him  such  promises  of  speedy  re- 
lease and  princely  treatment  as  greatly  cheered  the 
sad  heart  of  the  captive.  The  interview  was  short ; 
Francis  was  too  ill  to  bear  a  long  one ;  but  its  effect 
was  excellent,  and  the  sick  man  at  once  began  to 
recover,  soon  regaining  his  former  health.  Hope 
had  proved  a  medicine  far  superior  to  all  the  drugs 
of  the  doctors. 

But  the  obdurate  captor  had  said  more  than  he 
meant.     Francis  was  kept  as  closely  confined  as  ever. 


188  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

And  insult  was  added  to  indignity  by  the  emperor'8 
reception  of  the  Constable  Bourbon,  a  traitorous  sub- 
ject of  France,  whom  Charles  received  with  the 
highest  honors  which  a  monarch  could  show  his 
noblest  visitor,  and  whom  he  made  his  general-in- 
chief  in  Italy.  This  act  had  a  most  serious  result, 
which  may  here  be  briefly  described.  In  1527  Bour- 
bon made  an  assault  on  Eome,  with  an  army  largely 
composed  of  Lutherans  from  Germany,  and  took  it 
by  assault,  he  being  killed  on  the  walls.  There  fol- 
lowed a  sack  of  the  great  city  which  had  not  been 
surpassed  in  brutality  by  the  Yandals  themselves, 
and  for  months  Eome  lay  in  the  hands  of  a  barbarous 
soldiery,  who  plundered  and  destroyed  without  stint 
or  mercy. 

What  Charles  mainly  insisted  upon  and  Francis 
most  indignantly  refused  was  the  cession  of  Bur- 
gundy to  the  German  empire.  He  was  willing  to 
yield  on  all  other  points,  but  bitterly  refused  to  dis- 
member his  kingdom.  He  would  yield  all  claim  to 
territory  in  Italy  and  the  Netherlands,  would  pay  a 
large  sum  in  ransom,  and  would  make  other  conces- 
sions, but  Burgundy  was  part  of  France,  and  Bur- 
gundy he  would  not  give  up. 

In  the  end  Francis,  in  deep  despair,  took  steps  to- 
wards resigning  his  crown  to  his  son,  the  dauphin. 
A  plot  for  his  escape  was  also  formed,  which  filled 
Charles  with  the  fear  that  a  second  effort  might  suc- 
ceed. In  dread  that,  through  seeking  too  much,  he 
might  lose  all,  he  finally  agreed  upon  a  compromise 
in  regard  to  Burgundy,  Francis  consenting  to  yield 
it,  but  not  until  after  he  was  set  at  liberty.     The 


A   KING   IN   CAPTIVITY.  189 

treaty  included  many  other  articles,  most  of  them 
severe  and  rigorous,  while  Francis  agreed  to  leave 
his  sons,  the  dauphin  and  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  in  the 
emperor's  hands  as  hostages  for  the  fulfilment  of  the 
treaty.  This  treaty  was  signed  at  Madrid,  January 
14,  1526.  By  it  Charles  believed  that  he  had  effect- 
ually humbled  his  rival,  and  weakened  him  so  that 
he  could  never  regain  any  great  power.  In  this  the 
statesmen  of  the  day  did  not  agree  with  him,  as  they 
were  not  ready  to  believe  that  the  king  of  France 
would  live  up  to  conditions  of  such  severity,  forced 
from  him  under  constraint. 

The  treaty  signed,  the  two  monarchs  seemed  to 
become  at  once  the  best  of  friends.  They  often  ap- 
peared together  in  public;  they  had  long  confer- 
ences in  private ;  they  travelled  in  the  same  litter 
and  joined  in  the  same  amusements ;  the  highest 
confidence  and  affection  seemed  to  exist  between 
them.  Yet  this  love  was  all  a  false  show, — Francis 
still  distrusted  the  emperor,  and  Charles  still  had 
him  watched  like  a  prisoner. 

In  about  a  month  the  ratification  of  the  treaty 
was  brought  from  France,  and  Francis  set  out  from 
Madrid  with  the  first  true  emotions  of  joy  which  he 
had  felt  for  a  year.  He  was  escorted  by  a  body  of 
horse  under  Alarcon,  who,  when  the  frontiers  of 
France  were  reached,  guarded  him  as  scrupulously 
as  ever.  On  arriving  at  the  banks  of  the  Andaye 
Eiver,  which  there  separated  the  two  kingdoms, 
Lautrec  appeared  on  the  opposite  bank,  with  a  guard 
of  horse  equal  to  that  of  Alarcon.  An  empty  bark 
was  moored  in  mid-stream.     The  cavalry  drew  up 


190  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

in  order  on  each  bank.  Lannoy,  with  eight  gentle- 
men and  the  king,  put  off  in  a  boat  from  the  Spanish 
side  of  the  stream.  Lautrec  did  the  same  from  the 
French  side,  bringing  with  him  the  dauphin  and  the 
Duke  of  Orleans.  The  two  parties  met  in  the  empty 
vessel,  where  in  a  moment  the  exchange  was  made, 
Francis  embracing  his  sons  and  then  handing  them 
over  as  hostages.  Leaping  into  Lautrec's  boat,  he 
was  quickly  on  the  soil  of  France. 

Mounting  a  Barbary  horse  which  awaited  him, 
the  freed  captive  waved  his  hand  triumphantly  over 
his  head,  shouted  joyfully  several  times,  *'  I  am  yet 
a  king!"  and  galloped  away  at  full  speed  for  Ba- 
yonne.  He  had  been  held  in  captivity  for  a  year 
and  twenty-two  days. 

Our  tale  of  the  captivity  of  the  king  ends  here, 
but  the  consequences  of  that  captivity  must  be  told. 
A  league  was  immediately  afterwards  formed  against 
Charles,  named  the  Holy  League,  from  the  Pope  be- 
ing at  its  head.  The  Pope  absolved  Francis  from 
his  oath  to  keep  the  treaty  of  Madrid,  and  the  no- 
bles of  Burgundy,  secretly  instigated,  refused  to  be 
handed  over  to  the  imperial  realm.  Francis,  be- 
wailing his  lack  of  power  to  do  what  he  had  promised 
in  regard  to  Burgundy,  offered  to  pay  the  emperor 
two  millions  of  crowns  instead.  In  short,  Charles 
had  overreached  himself  through  his  stringency  to  a 
captive  rival,  and  lost  all  through  his  eagerness  to 
obtain  too  much. 

Ten  years  afterwards  the  relations  between  the 
two  monarchs  were  in  a  measure  reversed.  A  re- 
bellion had  broken  out  in  Flanders  which  needed 


A   KING   IN   CAPTIVITY.  191 

the  immediate  presence  of  Charles,  and,  for  reasons 
satisfactory  to  himself,  he  wished  to  go  through 
France.  His  counsellors  at  Madrid  looked  upon  such 
a  movement  as  fatally  rash ;  but  Charles  persisted, 
feeling  that  he  knew  the  character  of  Francis  better 
than  they.  The  French  king  was  ready  enough  to 
grant  the  permission  asked,  and  looked  upon  the 
occasion  as  an  opportunity  to  show  his  rival  how 
kings  should  deal  with  their  royal  neighbors. 

Charles  was  received  with  an  ostentatious  wel- 
come, each  town  entertaining  him  with  all  the  mag- 
nificence it  could  display.  He  was  presented  with 
the  keys  of  the  gates,  the  prisoners  were  set  at 
liberty,  and  he  was  shown  all  the  honor  due  to  the 
sovereign  of  the  country  itself  The  emperor,  though 
impatient  to  continue  his  journey,  remained  six  days 
in  Paris,  where  all  things  possible  were  done  to  ren- 
der his  visit  a  pleasant  one.  Had  Francis  listened 
to  the  advice  of  some  of  his  ministers,  he  would 
have  seized  and  held  prisoner  the  incautious  monarch 
who  had  so  long  kept  him  in  captivity.  But  the 
confidence  of  the  emperor  was  not  misplaced;  no 
consideration  could  induce  the  high-minded  French 
king  to  violate  his  plighted  word,  or  make  him  be- 
lieve that  Charles  would  fail  to  carry  out  certain 
promises  he  had  made.  He  forgot  for  the  time  how 
he  had  dealt  with  his  own  compacts,  but  Charles  re- 
membered, and  was  no  sooner  out  of  France  than  all 
his  promises  faded  from  his  mind,  and  Francis  learned 
that  he  was  not  the  only  king  who  could  enter  into 
engagements  which  he  had  no  intention  to  fulfil. 


777^  INVASION  OF  AFRICA. 

As  Italy  was  invaded  by  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova, 
the  Great  Captain,  so  Africa  was  invaded  by  Cardi- 
nal Ximenes,  the  Great  Churchman,  one  of  the  ablest 
men  who  ever  appeared  in  Spain,  despite  the  fact 
that  he  made  a  dreadful  bonfire  of  thousands  of 
Arabian  manuscripts  in  the  great  square  of  Gra- 
nada. The  greater  part  of  these  were  copies  of  the 
Koran,  but  many  of  them  were  of  high  scientific 
and  literary  value,  and  impossible  to  replace.  Yet, 
while  thus  engaged  in  a  work  fitted  for  an  un- 
lettered barbarian,  Ximenes  was  using  his  large 
revenues  to  found  the  University  of  Alcala,  the 
greatest  educational  institution  in  Spain,  and  was 
preparing  his  famous  polyglot  Bible,  for  which  the 
rarest  manuscripts  were  purchased,  without  regard 
to  cost,  that  the  Scriptures  might  be  shown  at  one 
view  in  their  various  ancient  languages.  To  indicate 
the  cost  of  this  work,  it  is  said  that  he  paid  four 
thousand  golden  crowns  for  seven  manuscripts,  which 
came  too  late  to  be  of  use  in  the  work.  Such  are 
the  results  that  appear  when  fanaticism  and  desire 
for  progress  are  combined. 

The  vast  labors  undertaken  by  Ximenes  at  home 

did  not  keep  him  from  enterprises  abroad.     He  was 

filled  with  a  burning  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the 

Catholic  faith,  formed  plans  for  a  crusade  to  the 

192 


THE   INVASION   OF  AFRICA.  193 

Holy  Land,  and  organized  a  remarkably  successful 
expedition  against  the  Moslems  of  Africa.  It  is  of 
the  latter  that  we  desire  to  speak. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  Isabella,  Mazalquivir,  a 
nest  of  pirates  on  the  Barbary  coast,  had  been  cap- 
tured by  an  expedition  organized  by  the  energetic 
Ximenes.  He  quickly  set  in  train  a  more  difficult 
enterprise,  one  directed  against  Oran,  a  Moorish  city 
of  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  strongly  fortified, 
with  a  large  commerce,  and  the  haunt  of  a  swarm 
of  piratical  cruisers.  The  Spanish  king  had  no 
money  and  little  heart  for  this  enterprise,  but  that 
did  not  check  the  enthusiastic  cardinal,  who  offered 
to  loan  all  the  sums  needed,  and  to  take  full 
charge  of  the  expedition,  leading  it  himself,  if 
the  king  pleased.  Ferdinand  made  no  objection 
to  this,  being  quite  willing  to  make  conquests  at 
some  one  else's  expense,  and  the  cardinal  set  to 
work. 

It  is  not  often  that  an  individual  can  equip  an 
army,  but  Ximenes  had  a  great  income  of  his  own 
and  had  the  resources  of  the  Church  at  his  back. 
By  the  close  of  the  spring  of  1509  he  had  made  ready 
a  fleet  of  ten  galleys  and  eighty  smaller  vessels,  and 
assembled  an  army  of  four  thousand  horse  and  ten 
thousand  foot,  fully  supplied  with  provisions  and 
military  stores  for  a  four  months'  campaign.  Such 
was  the  energy  and  activity  of  a  man  whose  life, 
until  a  few  years  before,  had  been  spent  in  the  soli- 
tude of  the  cloister  and  in  the  quiet  practices  of  re- 
ligion, and  who  was  now  an  infirm  invalid  of  more 
than  seventy  years  of  age. 

18 


194  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

The  nobles  thwarted  his  plans,  and  mocked  at  the 
idea  of  "  a  monk  fighting  the  battles  of  Spain."  The 
soldiers  had  little  taste  for  fighting  under  a  father 
of  the  Church,  "  while  the  Great  Captain  was  left  to 
stay  at  home  and  count  his  beads  like  a  hermit." 
The  king  threw  cold  water  on  the  enterprise.  But 
the  spirit  and  enthusiasm  of  the  old  monk  triumphed 
over  them  all,  and  on  the  16th  of  May  the  fleet 
weighed  anchor,  reaching  the  port  of  Mazalquivir 
on  the  following  day.  Oran,  the  goal  of  the  expe- 
dition, lay  about  a  league  away. 

As  soon  as  the  army  was  landed  and  drawn  up  in 
line,  Ximenes  mounted  his  mule  and  rode  along  its 
front,  dressed  in  his  priestly  robes,  but  with  a  sword 
by  his  side.  A  group  of  friars  followed,  also  with 
monkish  garbs  and  weapons  of  war.  The  cardinal, 
ascending  a  rising  ground,  made  an  animated  address 
to  the  soldiers,  rousing  their  indignation  by  speaking 
of  the  devastation  of  the  coast  of  Spain-  by  the  Mos- 
lems, and  awakening  their  cupidity  by  dwelling  on 
the  golden  spoil  to  be  found  in  the  rich  city  of  Oran. 
He  concluded  by  saying  that  he  had  come  to  peril 
his  own  life  in  the  service  of  the  cross  and  lead  them 
in  person  to  battle. 

The  oflicers  now  crowded  around  the  warlike  old 
monk  and  earnestly  begged  him  not  to  expose  his 
sacred  person  to  the  hazards  of  the  fight,  saying  that 
his  presence  would  do  more  harm  than  good,  as  the 
men  might  be  distracted  from  the  work  before  them 
by  attending  to  his  personal  safety.  This  last  argu- 
ment moved  the  warlike  cardinal,  who,  with  much 
reluctance,  consented  to  keep  in  the  rear  and  leave 


THE   INVASION    OF   AFRICA.  195 

the  command  of  the  army  to  its  military  leader, 
Count  Pedro  Navarro. 

The  day  was  now  far  advanced.  Beacon-fires  on 
the  hill-tops  showed  that  the  country  was  in  alarm. 
Dark  groups  of  Moorish  soldiers  could  be  seen  on 
the  summit  of  the  ridge  that  lay  between  Oran  and 
Mazalquivir,  and  which  it  would  be  necessary  to  take 
before  the  city  could  be  reached.  The  men  were 
weary  with  the  labors  of  landing,  and  needed  rest 
and  refreshment,  and  Navarro  deemed  it  unsafe  to 
attempt  anything  more  that  day ;  but  the  energetic 
prelate  bade  him  "to  go  forward  in  God's  name," 
and  orders  to  advance  were  at  once  given. 

Silently  the  Spanish  troops  began  to  ascend  the 
steep  sides  of  the  acclivity.  Fortunately  for  them, 
a  dense  mist  had  arisen,  which  rolled  down  the  skirts 
of  the  hills  and  filled  the  valley  through  which  they 
moved.  As  soon  as  they  left  its  cover  and  were  re- 
vealed to  the  Moors  a  shower  of  balls  and  arrows 
greeted  them,  followed  by  a  desperate  charge  down 
the  hill.  But  the  Spanish  infantry,  with  their  deep 
ranks  and  long  pikes,  moved  on  unbroken  by  the  as- 
sault, while  Navarro  opened  with  a  battery  of  heavy 
guns  on  the  flank  of  the  enemy. 

Thrown  into  disorder  by  the  deadly  volleys,  the 
Moors  began  to  give  ground,  and,  pressed  upon 
heavily  by  the  Spanish  spearsmen,  soon  broke  into 
flight.  The  Spaniards  hotly  pursued,  breaking  rank 
in  their  eagerness  in  a  way  that  might  have  proved 
fatal  but  for  the  panic  of  the  Moors,  who  had  lost 
all  sense  of  discipline.  The  hill-top  was  reached,  and 
down  its  opposite  slope  poured  the  Spaniards,  driving 


196  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

the  fleeing  Moors.  Not  far  before  them  rose  the 
walls  of  Oran.  The  fleet  had  anchored  before  the 
city  and  was  vigorously  cannonading  it,  being  an- 
swered with  equal  spirit  by  sixty  pieces  of  artillery 
on  the  fortifications.  Such  were  the  excitement  and 
enthusiasm  of  the  soldiers  that  they  forgot  weariness 
and  disregarded  obstacles.  In  swift  pursuit  they 
followed  the  scattering  Moors,  and  in  a  brief  time 
were  close  to  the  walls,  defended  by  a  deeply  dis- 
couraged garrison. 

The  Spaniards  had  brought  few  ladders,  but  in  the 
intense  excitement  and  energy  of  the  moment  no 
obstacle  deterred  them.  Planting  their  long  pikes 
against  the  walls,  or  thrusting  them  into  the  crevices 
between  the  stones,  they  clambered  up  with  remark- 
able dexterity, — a  feat  which  they  were  utterly  un- 
able to  repeat  the  next  day,  when  they  tried  it  in 
cold  blood. 

A  weak  defence  was  made,  and  the  ramparts  soon 
swarmed  with  Spanish  soldiers.  Sousa,  the  captain 
of  the  cardinal's  guard,  was  the  first  to  gain  the 
summit,  where  he  unfurled  the  banner  of  Ximenes, 
— the  cross  on  one  side  and  the  cardinal's  arms  on 
the  other.  Six  other  banners  soon  floated  from  the 
walls,  and  the  soldiers,  leaping  down  into  the  streets, 
gained  and  threw  open  the  gates.  In  streamed  the 
army,  sweeping  all  opposition  before  it.  Eesistance 
and  flight  were  alike  unavailing.  Houses  and 
mosques  were  tumultuously  entered,  no  mercy  being 
shown,  no  regard  for  age  or  sex,  the  soldiers  aban- 
doning themselves  to  the  brutal  license  and  ferocity 
common  to  the  religious  wars  of  that  epoch. 


"rUE  INVASION   OP  AFRICA.  197 

In  vain  I^avarro  sought  to  check  his  brutal  troops ; 
they  were  beyond  control;  the  butchery  never 
ceased  until,  gorged  with  the  food  and  wine  found 
in  the  houses,  the  worn-out  soldiers  flung  themselves 
down  in  the  streets  and  squares  to  sleep.  Four 
thousand  Moors  had  been  slain  in  the  brief  assault, 
and  perhaps  twice  that  number  were  taken  prisoners. 
The  city  of  Oran,  that  morning  an  opulent  and 
prosperous  community,  was  at  night  a  ruined  and 
captive  city,  with  its  ferocious  conquerors  sleeping 
amidst  their  slaughtered  victims. 

It  was  an  almost  incredible  victory,  considering 
the  rapidity  with  which  it  had  been  achieved.  On 
the  morning  of  the  16th  the  fleet  of  transports  had 
set  sail  from  Spain.  On  the  night  of  the  17th  the 
object  of  the  expedition  was  fully  accomplished,  the 
army  being  in  complete  possession  of  Oran,  a 
strongly  manned  and  fortified  cit}^,  taken  almost 
without  loss.  Ximenes,  to  whose  warlike  enthusiasm 
this  remarkable  victory  was  wholly  due,  embarked 
in  his  galley  the  next  morning  and  sailed  along  the 
city's  margin,  his  soul  swelling  with  satisfaction  at 
his  wonderful  success.  On  landing,  the  army  hailed 
him  as  the  true  victor  of  Oran,  a  wave  of  acclama- 
tions following  him  as  he  advanced  to  the  alcazar, 
where  the  keys  of  the  fortress  were  put  into  his 
hands.  A  few  hours  after  the  surrender  of  the 
city  a  powerful  reinforcement  arrived  for  its  relief, 
but  on  learning  of  its  loss  the  disconcerted  Moors 
retired.  Had  the  attack  been  deferred  to  the  next 
day,  as  Navarro  proposed,  it  would  probably  have 
failed.    The  people  of  Spain  ascribed  the  victory  to 


198  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

inspiration  from  heaven ;  but  the  only  inspiration 
lay  in  the  impetuous  energy  and  enthusiasm  of  the 
cardinal.  But  the  Spaniards  of  that  day  were 
rarely  satisfied  without  their  miracle,  and  it  is  so- 
berly asserted  that  the  sun  stood  still  for  several 
hours  while  the  action  went  on,  Heaven  repeating 
the  miracle  of  Joshua,  and  halting  the  solar  orb  in 
its  career,  that  more  of  the  heathen  might  be 
slaughtered.  The  greatest  miracle  of  all  would  ap- 
pear to  be  that  the  sun  stood  still  nowhere  else  than 
over  the  fated  city  of  Oran. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  add  to  this  narrative  an 
account  of  a  second  expedition  against  Africa,  made 
by  Charles  Y.  some  thirty  years  later,  in  which 
Heaven  failed  to  come  to  the  aid  of  Spain,  and 
whose  termination  was  as  disastrous  as  that  of  the 
expedition  of  Ximenes  had  been  fortunate. 

It  was  the  city  of  Algiers  that  Charles  set  out  to 
reduce,  and,  though  the  season  was  late  and  it  was 
the  time  of  the  violent  autumnal  winds,  he  persisted 
in  his  purpose  in  spite  of  the  advice  of  experienced 
mariners.  The  expedition  consisted  of  twenty 
thousand  foot  and  two  thousand  horse,  with  a  large 
body  of  noble  volunteers.  The  storms  came  as 
promised  and  gave  the  army  no  small  trouble  in  its 
voyage,  but  at  length,  with  much  difficulty  and 
danger,  the  troops  were  landed  on  the  coast  near 
Algiers  and  advanced  at  once  upon  the  town. 

Hascan,  the  Moorish  leader,  had  only  about  six 
thousand  men  to  oppose  to  the  large  Spanish  army, 
and  had  little  hope  of  a  successful  resistance  by 
force  of  arms.     But  in  this  case  Heaven — if  we  ad- 


THE  INVASION  OF  AFRICA.  199 

mit  its  interference  at  all — came  to  the  aid  of  the 
Moors.  On  the  second  day  after  landing,  and  before 
operations  had  fairly  begun,  the  clouds  gathered 
and  the  skies  grew  threatening.  Towards  evening 
rain  began  to  fall  and  a  fierce  wind  arose.  Dur- 
ing the  night  a  violent  tempest  swept  the  camp,  and 
the  soldiers,  who  were  without  tents  or  shelter  of 
any  kind,  were  soon  in  a  deplorable  state.  Their 
camp,  which  was  in  a  low  situation,  was  quickly 
overflowed  by  the  pouring  rains,  and  the  ground  be- 
came ankle  deep  in  mud.  No  one  could  lie  down, 
while  the  wind  blew  so  furiously  that  they  could 
only  stand  by  thrusting  their  spears  into  the  ground 
and  clinging  to  them.  About  day-dawn  they  were 
attacked  by  the  vigilant  Hascan,  and  a  considerable 
number  of  them  killed  before  the  enemy  was  forced 
to  retire. 

Bad  as  the  night  had  been,  the  day  proved  more 
disastrous  still.  The  tempest  continued,  its  force  in- 
creasing, and  the  sea,  roused  to  its  utmost  fury  by 
the  winds,  made  sad  havoc  of  the  ships.  They  were 
torn  from  their  anchorage,  flung  violently  together, 
beat  to  pieces  on  the  rocks,  and  driven  ashore,  while 
many  sank  bodily  in  the  waves.  In  less  than  an 
hour  fifteen  war-vessels  and  a  hundred  and  forty 
transports  w^ere  wrecked  and  eight  thousand  men 
had  perished,  those  of  the  crews  who  reached  shore 
being  murdered  by  the  Moors  as  soon  as  they 
touched  land. 

It  was  with  anguish  and  astoundment  that  the 
emperor  witnessed  this  wreck  of  all  his  hopes,  the 
great  stores  which  he  had  collected  for  subsistence 


200  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

and  military  purposes  being  in  one  fatal  hour 
buried  in  the  depths  of  the  sea.  At  length  the 
wind  began  to  fall,  and  some  hopes  arose  that  ves- 
sels enough  might  have  escaped  to  carry  the  dis- 
tressed army  back  to  Europe.  But  darkness  was 
again  at  hand,  and  a  second  night  of  suspense  and 
misery  was  passed.  In  the  morning  a  boat  reached 
land  with  a  messenger  from  Andrew  Doria,  the  ad- 
miral of  the  fleet,  who  sent  word  that  in  fifty  years 
of  maritime  life  he  had  never  seen  so  frightful  a 
storm,  and  that  he  had  been  forced  to  bear  away  with 
his  shattered  ships  to  Cape  Metafuz,  whither  he  ad- 
vised the  emperor  to  march  with  all  speed,  as  the 
skies  were  still  threatening  and  the  tempest  might 
be  renewed. 

The  emperor  was  now  in  a  fearful  quandary. 
Metafuz  was  at  least  three  days'  march  away.  All 
the  food  that  had  been  brought  ashore  was  con- 
sumed. The  soldiers,  worn  out  with  fatigue,  were 
in  no  condition  for  such  a  journey.  Yet  it  was  im- 
possible to  stay  where  they  were.  There  was  no 
need  of  deliberation  ;  no  choice  was  left ;  their  only 
hope  of  safety  lay  in  instant  movement. 

The  sick,  wounded,  and  feeble  were  placed  in  the 
centre,  the  stronger  in  front  and  rear,  and  the  dis- 
astrous march  began.  Some  of  the  men  could  hardly 
bear  the  weight  of  their  arms;  others,  worn  out 
with  toiling  through  the  nearly  impassable  roads, 
lay  down  and  died  ;  many  perished  from  hunger  and 
exhaustion,  there  being  no  food  but  roots  and  berries 
gathered  by  the  way  and  the  flesh  of  horses  killed 
by  the  emperor's  order ;  many  were  drowned  in  the 


THE   INVASION   OF  AFRICA.  20l 

streams,  swollen  by  the  severe  rains ;  many  were 
killed  by  the  enemy,  who  followed  and  harassed 
them  throughout  the  march.  The  late  gallant  army 
was  a  bedraggled  and  miserable  fragment  when  the 
survivors  at  length  reached  Metafuz.  Fortunately 
the  storm  was  at  an  end,  and  they  were  able  to  ob- 
tain from  the  ships  the  provisions  of  which  they 
stood  so  sorely  in  need. 

The  calamities  which  attended  this  unluckly  ex- 
pedition were  not  yet  at  an  end.  No  sooner  had  the 
soldiers  embarked  than  a  new  storm  arose,  less  vio- 
lent than  the  former,  but  sufficient  to  scatter  the 
ships  to  right  and  left,  some  making  port  in  Spain, 
some  in  Italy,  all  seeking  such  harbors  of  refuge  as 
they  could  find.  The  emperor,  after  passing  through 
great  perils,  was  driven  to  the  port  of  Bugia  in 
Africa,  where  contrary  winds  held  him  prisoner  for 
several  weeks.  He  at  length  reached  Spain,  to  find 
the  whole  land  in  dismay  at  the  fate  of  the  gallant 
expedition,  which  had  set  out  with  such  high  hopes 
of  success.  To  the  end  of  his  reign  Charles  Y.  had 
no  further  aspirations  for  conquest  in  Africa. 


AN   EMPEROR    RETIRED    FROM 
BUSINESS. 

In  October  of  the  year  1555  a  strange  procession 
passed  through  a  rugged  and  hilly  region  of  Spain. 
At  its  head  rode  an  alcalde  with  a  posse  of  alguazils. 
Kext  came  a  gouty  old  man  in  a  horse-Htter,  like  a 
prisoner  in  the  hands  of  a  convoy  of  officers  of 
justice.  A  body  of  horsemen  followed,  and  in  the 
rear  toiled  onward  a  long  file  of  baggage -mules. 

As  the  train  advanced  into  the  more  settled  re- 
gions of  the  country  it  became  evident  that  the  per- 
sonage thus  convoyed  was  not  a  prisoner,  but  a 
person  of  the  highest  consequence.  On  each  side 
of  the  road  the  people  assembled  to  see  him  pass, 
with  a  show  of  deep  respect.  At  the  towns  along 
the  route  the  great  lords  of  the  neighborhood  gath- 
ered in  his  honor,  and  in  the  cities  the  traveller  was 
greeted  by  respectful  deputations  of  officials.  When 
Burgos  was  approached  the  great  constable  of  Cas- 
tile, with  a  strong  retinue  of  attendants,  came  to 
meet  him,  and  when  he  passed  through  the  illumi- 
nated streets  of  that  city  the  bells  rang  out  in  merry 
peals,  while  enthusiastic  people  filled  the  streets. 

It  was  not  a  prisoner  to  the  law,  but  a  captive  to 
gout,  who  thus  passed  in  slow  procession  through 
the  lands  and  cities  of  Spain.  It  was  the  royal 
202 


AN  EMPEROR  RETIRED  FROM   BUSINESS.  203 

Charles,  King  of  Spain  and  the  ^Netherlands,  Em- 
peror of  Germany,  and  magnate  of  America,  at  that 
time  the  greatest  monarch  in  Europe,  lord  of  a  realm 
greater  than  that  of  Charlemagne,  who  made  his 
way  with  this  small  following  and  in  this  simple 
manner  through  the  heart  of  his  Spanish  dominions. 
He  had  done  what  few  kings  have  done  before  or 
since,  voluntarily  thrown  off  his  crown  in  the  height 
of  his  power, — weary  of  reigning,  surfeited  with 
greatness, — and  retired  to  spend  the  remainder  of 
his  life  in  privacy,  to  dwell  far  from  the  pomp  of 
courts  in  a  simple  community  of  monks. 

The  next  principal  halting-place  of  the  retired 
monarch  was  the  city  of  Yalladolid,  once  the  capital 
of  the  kingdom  and  still  a  rich  and  splendid  place, 
adorned  with  stately  public  buildings  and  the  palaces 
of  great  nobles.  Here  he  remained  for  some  time 
resting  from  his  journey,  his  house  thronged  with 
visitors  of  distinction.  Among  these,  one  day,  came 
the  court  fool.     Charles  touched  his  cap  to  him. 

"  Welcome,  brother,"  said  the  jester ;  "  do  you  raise 
your  hat  to  me  because  you  are  no  longer  emperor  ?" 

"Ko,"  answered  Charles,  "but  because  this  sorry 
courtesy  is  all  I  have  left  to  give  you." 

On  quitting  Yalladolid  Charles  seemed  to  turn  his 
back  finally  on  the  world,  with  all  its  pomps  and 
vanities.  Before  leaving  he  took  his  last  dinner  in 
public,  and  bade  an  affectionate  farewell  to  his  sisters, 
his  daughter,  and  his  grandson,  who  had  accom- 
panied him  thus  far  in  his  journey.  A  large  train 
of  nobles  and  cavaliers  rode  with  him  to  the  gates 
of  the  city,  where  he  courteously  dismissed   them, 


204  filSTORlCAL  TALES. 

and  moved  onward  attended  only  by  his  simple 
train. 

"Heaven  be  praised!"  said  the  world-weary  mon- 
arch, as  he  came  nearer  his  place  of  retreat ;  "  after 
this  no  more  visits  of  ceremony,  no  more  receptions !" 

But  he  was  not  yet  rid  of  show  and  ostentation. 
Spending  the  night  at  Medina  del  Campo,  at  the 
house  of  a  rich  banker  named  Eodrigo  de  Duenas, 
the  latter,  by  way  of  display,  warmed  the  emperor's 
room  with  a  brazier  of  pure  gold,  in  which,  in  place 
of  common  fuel,  sticks  of  cinnamon  were  burned. 
Neither  the  perfume  nor  the  ostentation  was  agree- 
able to  Charles,  and  on  leaving  the  next  morning  he 
punished  his  over-officious  host  by  refusing  to  permit 
him  to  kiss  his  hand,  and  by  causing  him  to  be  paid 
for  the  night's  lodging  like  a  common  inn-keeper. 

This  was  not  the  first  time  that  cinnamon  had 
been  burned  in  the  emperor's  chamber.  The  same 
was  done  by  the  Fuggers,  the  famous  bankers  of 
Germany,  who  had  loaned  Charles  large  sums  for 
his  expedition  against  Tunis,  and  entertained  him  at 
their  house  on  his  return.  In  this  case  the  emperor 
was  not  offended  by  the  odor  of  cinnamon,  since  it 
was  modified  by  a  different  and  more  agreeable  per- 
fume. The  bankers,  grateful  to  Charles  for  breaking 
up  a  pestilent  nest  of  Barbary  pirates,  threw  the 
receipts  for  the  money  they  had  loaned  him  into  the 
fire,  turning  their  gold  into  ashes  in  his  behalf  This 
was  a  grateful  sacrifice  to  the  emperor,  whose  war- 
like enterprises  consumed  more  money  than  he  could 
readily  command. 

The  vicinity  of  Yuste  was  reached  late  in  Novem- 


AN   EMPEROR  RETIRED   FROM   BUSINESS.  205 

ber.  Here  resided  a  community  of  Jeromymite 
monks,  in  whose  monastery  he  proposed  to  pass  the 
remainder  of  his  days.  There  were  two  roads  by 
which  it  could  be  reached, — one  an  easy,  winding 
highway,  the  other  a  rugged  mountain-pass.  But 
by  the  latter  four  days  would  be  saved,  and  Charles, 
tired  of  the  long  journey,  determined  to  take  it, 
diflScult  as  it  might  prove. 

He  had  been  warned  against  the  mountain  path- 
way, and  found  it  fully  as  formidable  as  he  had  been 
told.  A  body  of  hardy  rustics  were  sent  ahead, 
with  pikes,  shovels,  and  other  implements,  to  clear 
the  way.  But  it  was  choked  here  and  there  with 
fallen  stones  and  trunks  of  trees  which  they  were 
unable  to  move.  In  some  localities  the  path  wound 
round  dizzy  precipices,  where  a  false  step  would  have 
been  fatal.  To  any  traveller  it  would  have  been  very 
difficult ;  to  the  helpless  emperor  it  was  frightfully 
dangerous.  The  peasants  carried  the  litter ;  in  bad 
parts  of  the  way  the  emperor  was  transferred  to  his 
chair;  in  very  perilous  places  the  vigorous  peasants 
carried  him  in  their  arms. 

Several  hours  of  this  hard  toil  passed  before  they 
reached  the  summit.  As  they  emerged  from  the 
dark  defiles  of  the  Puerto  Nuevo — now  known  as 
"  The  Emperor's  Pass" — Charles  exclaimed,  "  It  is  the 
last  pass  I  shall  go  through  in  this  world,  save  that 
of  death." 

The  descent  was  much  more  easy,  and  soon  the 
gray  walls  of  Yuste,  half  hidden  in  chestnut-groves, 
came  in  sight.  Yet  it  was  three  months  before  the 
traveller  reached  there,  for  the  apartments  preparing 


206  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

for  him  were  far  from  ready,  and  he  had  to  wait 
throughout  the  winter  in  the  vicinity,  in  a  castle  of 
the  Count  of  Oropesa,  and  in  the  midst  of  an  almost 
continual  downpour  of  rain,  which  turned  the  roads 
to  mire,  the  country  almost  to  a  swamp,  and  the 
mountains  to  vapor-heaps.  The  threshold  of  his 
new  home  was  far  from  an  agreeable  one. 

Charles  Y.  had  long  contemplated  the  step  he  had 
thus  taken.  He  was  only  fifty-five  years  of  age, 
but  he  had  become  an  old  man  at  fifty,  and  was  such 
a  victim  to  the  gout  as  to  render  his  life  a  constant 
torment  and  the  duties  of  royalty  too  heavy  to  be 
borne.  So,  taking  a  resolution  which  few  monarchs 
have  taken  before  or  since,  he  gave  up  his  power  and 
resolved  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  such 
quiet  and  peace  as  a  retired  monastery  would  give. 
Spain  and  its  subject  lands  he  transferred  to  his  son 
Philip,  who  was  to  gain  both  fame  and  infamy  as 
Philip  II.  He  did  his  best,  also,  to  transfer  the  im- 
perial crown  of  Germany  to  his  fanatical  and  heart- 
less heir,  but  his  brother  Ferdinand,  who  was  in 
power  there,  would  not  consent,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  make  Ferdinand  emperor  of  Germany,  and 
break  in  two  the  vast  dominion  which  he  had  con- 
trolled. 

Charles  had  only  himself  to  thank  for  his  gout. 
Like  many  a  man  in  humbler  life,  he  had  abused  the 
laws  of  nature  until  they  had  avenged  themselves 
upon  him.  The  pleasures  of  the  table  with  him  far 
surpassed  those  of  intellectual  or  business  pursuits. 
He  had  an  extraordinary  appetite,  equal  to  that  of 
any  royal  gourmand  of  whom  history  speaks,  and, 


AN   EMPEROR  RETIRED   FROM   BUSINESS.  207 

while  leaving  his  power  behind  him,  he  brought  this 
enemy  with  him  into  his  retirement. 

We  are  told  by  a  Venetian  envoy  at  his  court,  in 
the  latter  part  of  his  reign,  that,  while  still  in  bed 
in  the  morning,  he  was  served  with  potted  capon, 
prepared  with  sugar,  milk,  and  spices,  and  then  went 
to  sleep  again.  At  noon  a  meal  of  various  dishes 
was  served  him,  and  another  after  vespers.  In  the 
evening  he  supped  heartily  on  anchovies,  of  which 
he  was  particularly  fond,  or  some  other  gross  and 
savory  food.  His  cooks  were  often  at  their  wits' 
end  to  devise  some  new  dish,  rich  and  highly  sea- 
soned enough  to  satisfy  his  appetite,  and  his  per- 
plexed purveyor  one  day,  knowing  Charles's  passion 
for  timepieces,  told  him  ''  that  he  really  did  not  know 
what  new  dish  he  could  prepare  him,  unless  it  were 
^fricassee  of  watches." 

Charles  drank  as  heartily  as  he  ate.  His  huge 
repasts  were  washed  down  with  potations  propor- 
tionately large.  Iced  beer  was  a  favorite  beverage, 
with  which  he  began  on  rising  and  kept  up  during 
the  day.  By  way  of  a  stronger  potation,  Khenish 
wine  was  much  to  his  taste.  Eoger  Ascham,  who 
saw  him  on  St.  Andrew's  day  dining  at  the  feast  of 
the  Golden  Fleece,  tells  us :  "  He  drank  the  best  that 
I  ever  saw.  He  had  his  head  in  the  glass  five  times 
as  long  as  any  of  us,  and  never  drank  less  than  a 
good  quart  at  once  of  Ehenish." 

It  was  this  over-indulgence  in  the  pleasures  of  the 
table  that  brought  the  emperor  to  Yuste.  His  phy- 
sician warned  him  in  vain.  His  confessor  wasted 
admonitions  on  his  besetting  sin.     Sickness  and  suf- 


208  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

fering  vainly  gave  him  warning  to  desist.  Indiges- 
tion troubled  him ;  bilious  disorders  brought  misery 
to  his  overworked  stomach.  At  length  came  gout, 
the  most  terrible  of  his  foes.  This  enemy  gave  him 
little  rest  day  or  night.  The  man  who  had  hunted 
in  the  mountains  for  days  without  fatigue,  who  had 
kept  the  saddle  day  and  night  in  his  campaigns,  who 
had  held  his  own  in  the  lists  with  the  best  knights 
of  Europe,  was  now  a  miserable  cripple,  carried, 
wherever  he  went,  in  the  litter  of  an  invalid. 

One  would  have  thought  that,  in  his  monkish  re- 
treat, Charles  would  cease  to  indulge  in  gastronomic 
excesses,  but  the  retired  emperor,  with  little  else  to 
think  of,  gave  as  much  attention  to  his  appetite  as 
ever.  Yuste  was  kept  in  constant  communication 
with  the  rest  of  the  world  on  matters  connected  with 
the  emperor's  table.  He  was  especially  fond  of  fish 
and  all  the  progeny  of  the  water, — eels,  frogs,  oys- 
ters, and  the  like.  The  trout  of  the  neighborhood 
were  too  small  for  his  liking,  so  he  had  larger  ones 
sent  from  a  distance.  Potted  fish — anchovies  in  par- 
ticular— were  favorite  viands.  Eel  pasty  appealed 
strongly  to  his  taste.  Soles,  lampreys,  flounders 
reached  his  kitchen  from  Seville  and  Portugal.  The 
country  around  supplied  pork,  mutton,  and  game. 
Sausages  were  sent  him  from  a  distance ;  olives  were 
brought  from  afar,  as  those  near  at  hand  were  not 
to  his  liking.  Presents  of  sweetmeats  and  confec- 
tionery were  sent  him  by  ladies  who  remembered 
his  ancient  tastes.  In  truth,  Charles,  tortured  with 
gout,  did  everything  he  well  could  to  favor  its  at- 
tacks. 


AN   EMPEROR  RETIRED   FROM   BUSINESS.  209 

The  retired  emperor,  though  he  made  a  monastery 
his  abode,  had  no  idea  of  living  like  a  monk.  His 
apartments  were  richly  furnished  and  hung  with 
handsome  tapestry,  and  every  attention  was  paid  to 
his  personal  comfort.  Eich  carpets,  canopies  of  vel- 
vet, sofas  and  chairs  of  carved  walnut,  seats  amply 
garnished  with  cushions  for  the  ease  of  his  tender 
joints,  gave  a  luxurious  aspect  to  his  retirement. 
His  wardrobe  contained  no  less  than  sixteen  robes 
of  silk  and  velvet,  lined  with  ermine,  eider-down,  or 
the  soft  hair  of  the  Barbary  goat.  He  could  not 
endure  cold  weather,  and  had  fireplaces  and  chim- 
neys constructed  in  every  room,  usually  keeping  his 
apartments  almost  at  furnace  heat,  much  to  the  dis- 
comfort of  his  household.  With  all  this,  and  his 
wrappings  of  fur  and  eider-down,  he  would  often  be 
in  a  shiver  and  complain  that  he  was  chilled  to  the 
bone. 

His  table  was  richly  provided  with  plate,  its  ser- 
vice being  of  silver,  as  were  also  the  articles  of  the 
toilet,  the  basins,  pitchers,  and  other  utensils  of  his 
bed-chamber.  With  these  were  articles  of  pure  gold, 
valuable  for  their  curious  workmanship.  He  had 
brought  with  him  many  jewels  of  value,  and  a  small 
but  choice  collection  of  paintings,  some  of  them 
among  the  noblest  masterpieces  of  art.  Among 
them  were  eight  gems  from  the  hand  of  Titian. 
These  were  hung  in  rich  frames  around  his  rooms. 
He  was  no  reader,  and  had  brought  few  books,  his 
whole  library  comprising  but  thirty-one  volumes, 
and  these  mostly  religious  works,  such  as  psalters, 
missals,  breviaries,  and  the  like.     There  was  some 

14 


210  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

little  science  and  some  little  history,  but  the  work 
which  chiefly  pleased  him  was  a  French  poem,  "  Le 
Chevalier  Delihere^'^  then  popular,  which  celebrated 
the  exploits  of  the  house  of  Burgundy,  and  especially 
of  Charles  the  Bold. 

And  now  it  comes  in  place  to  say  something  of 
how  Charles  employed  himself  at  Yuste,  aside  from 
eating  and  drinking  and  shivering  in  his  chimney 
corner.  The  mode  in  which  a  monarch  retired  from 
business  passes  his  time  cannot  be  devoid  of  interest. 
He  by  no  means  gave  up  his  attention  to  the  affairs 
of  the  realm,  but  kept  himself  well  informed  in  all 
that  was  going  on,  sometimes  much  to  his  annoy- 
ance, since  blunders  were  made  that  gave  him  a 
passing  desire  to  be  again  at  the  head  of  affairs.  In 
truth,  two  years  after  his  retirement,  the  public  con- 
cerns got  into  such  a  snarl  that  Philip  earnestly 
sought  to  induce  the  emperor  to  leave  his  retreat 
and  aid  him  with  his  ripened  experience.  This 
Charles  utterly  refused  to  do.  He  had  had  his  fill 
of  politics.  It  was  much  less  trouble  to  run  a  house- 
hold than  a  nation.  But  he  undertook  to  do  what 
he  could  to  improve  the  revenues  of  the  crown. 
Despatches  about  public  affairs  were  brought  to  him 
constantly,  and  his  mental  thermometer  went  up  or 
down  as  things  prospered  or  the  reverse.  But  he 
was  not  to  be  tempted  to  plunge  again  into  the  tur- 
bulent tide  of  public  affairs. 

Charles  had  other  and  more  humble  duties  to  oc- 
cupy his  time.  His  paroxysms  of  gout  came  only 
at  intervals,  and  in  the  periods  between  he  kept  him- 
self engaged.    He  had  a  taste  for  mechanics,  and 


AN  EMPEROR  RETIRED  FROM  BUSINESS.    211 

among  his  attendants  was  an  Italian  named  Torri- 
ano,  a  man  of  much  ingenuity,  who  afterwards  con- 
structed the  celebrated  hydraulic  works  at  Toledo. 
He  was  a  skilful  clock-maker,  and,  as  Charles  took  a 
special  interest  in  timepieces,  his  assistant  furnished 
his  apartments  with  a  series  of  elaborate  clocks. 
One  of  these  was  so  complicated  that  its  construc- 
tion occupied  more  than  three  3'ears,  every  detail 
of  the  work  being  curiously  watched  by  Charles. 
Watches  were  then  of  recent  invention,  yet  there 
were  a  number  of  them  at  Yuste,  made  by  Torriano. 

The  attempt  to  make  his  clocks  keep  time  together 
is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  daily  occupations  of 
the  retired  emperor,  and  the  adjustment  of  his  clocks 
and  watches  gave  him  so  much  trouble  that  he  is 
said  to  have  one  day  remarked  that  it  was  absurd  to 
try  and  make  men  think  alike,  when,  do  what  he 
would,  he  could  not  make  two  of  his  timepieces  agree. 

He  often  amused  himself  with  Torriano  in  making 
little  puppets, — soldiers  that  would  go  through  their 
exercises,  dancing  tambourine-girls,  etc.  It  is  even 
asserted  that  they  constructed  birds  that  would  fly 
in  and  out  of  the  window,  a  story  rather  difficult  to 
accept.  The  monks  began  to  look  upon  Torriano  as 
a  professor  of  magic  when  he  invented  a  handmill 
small  enough  to  be  hidden  in  a  friar's  sleeve,  yet 
capable  of  grinding  enough  meal  in  a  day  to  last  a 
man  for  a  week. 

The  emperor  was  very  fond  of  music,  particularly 
devotional  music,  and  was  a  devotee  in  religious  ex- 
ercises, spending  much  of  his  time  in  listening  to  the 
addresses  of  the  chaplains,  and  observing  the  fasts 


212  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

and  festivals  of  the  Churcli.  His  fondness  for  fish 
made  the  Lenten  season  anything  but  a  period  of 
penance  for  him. 

He  went  on,  indeed,  eating  and  drinking  as  he 
would ;  and  his  disease  went  on  growing  and  deepen- 
ing, until  at  length  the  shadow  of  death  lay  heavy  on 
the  man  whose  religion  did  not  include  temperance  in 
its  precepts.  During  1558  he  grew  steadily  weaker, 
and  on  the  21st  of  September  the  final  day  came ; 
his  eyes  quietly  closed  and  life  fled  from  his  frame. 

Yuste,  famous  as  the  abiding-place  of  Charles  in 
his  retirement,  remained  unmolested  in  the  subse- 
quent history  of  the  country  until  1810,  when  a 
party  of  French  dragoons,  foraging  near  by,  found 
the  murdered  body  of  one  of  their  comrades  not  far 
from  the  monastery  gates.  Sure  in  their  minds  that 
the  monks  had  killed  him,  they  broke  in,  dispersed 
the  inmates,  and  set  the  buildings  on  fire.  The  ex- 
tensive pile  of  edifices  continued  to  burn  for  eight 
days,  no  one  seeking  to  quench  the  flames.  On  the 
ninth  the  ancient  monastery  was  left  a  heap  of  ashes, 
only  the  church  remaining,  and,  protected  by  it,  the 
palace  of  Charles. 

In  1820  a  body  of  neighboring  insurgents  entered 
and  defaced  the  remaining  buildings,  carrying  off 
everything  they  could  find  of  value  and  turning  the 
church  into  a  stable.  Some  of  the  monks  returned, 
but  in  1837  came  an  act  suppressing  the  convents, 
and  the  poor  Jeromymites  were  finally  turned  adrift. 
To-day  the  palace  of  Charles  Y.  presents  only  deso- 
late and  dreary  chambers,  used  as  magazines  for  grain 
and  olives.     So  passes  away  the  glory  of  the  world. 


THE   FATE    OF  A    RECKLESS 
PRINCE. 

In  1568  died  Don  Carlos,  Prince  of  Asturias,  the 
son  of  Philip  II.  of  Spain  ;  and  in  the  same  year  died 
Isabella  of  Yalois,  the  young  and  beautiful  queen  of 
the  Spanish  monarch.  Legend  has  connected  the 
names  of  Carlos  and  Isabella,  and  a  mystery  hangs 
over  them  which  research  has  failed  to  dispel.  Their 
supposed  love,  their  untimely  fate,  and  the  suspicion 
that  their  death  was  due  to  the  jealousy  of  the  king, 
have  proved  a  prolific  theme  for  fiction,  and  the 
story  of  the  supposed  unhappy  fate  of  the  two  has 
passed  from  the  domain  of  history  into  that  of 
romance  and  the  drama,  there  being  more  than  one 
fine  play  based  on  the  loves  and  misfortunes  of  Car- 
los and  Isabella.  But  sober  history  tells  nothing  of 
the  kind,  and  it  is  with  history  that  we  are  here 
concerned. 

Carlos,  the  heir  of  the  throne  of  Spain,  was  born 
in  1545.  He  was  a  bold,  headstrong  boy,  reckless 
in  disposition,  fond  of  manly  exercises,  generous  to 
a  fault,  fearless  of  heart,  and  passionately  desirous 
of  a  military  life.  In  figure  he  was  deformed,  one 
shoulder  being  higher  and  one  leg  longer  than  the 
other,  while  his  chest  was  flat  and  his  back  slightly 
humped.       His    features    were    not    unhandsome, 

213 


214  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

though  very  pale,  and  he  spoke  with  some  difficulty. 
He  was  feeble  and  sickly  as  a  boy,  subject  to  inter- 
mittent fever,  and  wasted  away  so  greatly  that  it 
seemed  as  if  he  would  not  live  to  manhood. 

Such  were  the  mental  and  physical  characteristics 
of  the  princely  youth  who  while  still  young  was  be- 
trothed by  treaty  to  the  beautiful  French  princess 
Isabella  of  Yalois.  The  marriage  was  not  destined 
to  take  place.  Before  the  treaty  was  ratified.  Queen 
Mary  of  England,  Philip's  wife,  died,  and  his  name 
was  substituted  for  that  of  his  son  in  the  marriage 
treaty.  The  wedding  ceremony  took  place  at  Toledo, 
in  February,  1560,  and  was  celebrated  with  great 
splendor.  Carlos  was  present,  and  may  have  felt 
some  resentment  at  being  robbed  by  his  father  of 
this  beautiful  bride.  Eomantic  historians  tell  us 
that  Isabella  felt  a  tender  sentiment  for  him,  a  very 
unlikely  statement  in  view  of  the  fact  that  he  was 
at  that  time  a  sickly,  ill-favored  boy  of  only  four- 
teen years  of  age.  Shortly  after  the  marriage  Car- 
los was  formally  recognized  as  heir  to  the  crown. 

Two  years  afterwards  a  serious  accident  occurred. 
In  descending  a  flight  of  stairs  the  boy  slipped  and 
fell  headlong,  injuring  his  head  so  severely  that  his 
life  was  despaired  of  His  head  swelled  to  an  enor- 
mous size ;  he  became  delirious  and  totally  blind  j 
examination  showed  that  his  skull  was  fractured ;  a 
part  of  the  bone  was  removed,  but  no  relief  was  ob- 
tained. All  the  arts  of  the  doctors  of  that  day 
were  tried  in  vain,  but  the  boy  got  no  better.  Pro- 
cessions were  made  to  the  churches,  prayers  were 
offered,  and   pilgrimages  were  vowed,  all  without 


THE   FATE   OF  A  RECKLESS   PRINCE.  215 

avail.  Then  more  radical  means  were  tried.  The 
mouldering  bones  of  a  holy  Franciscan,  who  had  died 
a  hundred  years  before,  were  taken  from  their  cof- 
fin and  laid  on  the  boy's  bed,  and  the  cloth  that  had 
enclosed  the  dead  man's  skull  was  placed  on  his 
forehead.  Fortunately  for  the  boy,  he  was  delirious 
when  these  gruesome  remedies  were  applied. 

That  night,  we  are  gravely  told,  the  dead  friar 
came  to  Carlos  in  his  sleep,  bidding  him  to  "be  of 
good  cheer,  for  he  would  certainly  recover."  Soon 
after,  the  fever  subsided,  his  head  shrank  back  to  its 
natural  size,  his  sight  returned.  In  two  months 
from  the  date  of  the  accident  he  was  well,  and  Fray 
Diego,  the  worthy  friar,  was  made  a  saint  for  the 
miracle  his  bones  had  performed.  Possibly  youth 
and  nature  had  their  fair  share  in  the  cure. 

Likely  enough  the  boy  was  never  cured.  The 
blow  may  have  done  some  permanent  injury  to  his 
brain.  At  any  rate,  he  became  strikingly  eccentric 
and  reckless,  giving  way  to  every  mad  whim  that 
came  into  his  mind.  The  stories  of  his  wild  doings 
formed  the  scandal  of  Madrid.  In  1564  one  of  his 
habits  was  to  patrol  the  streets  with  a  number  of 
young  nobles  as  lawless  as  himself,  attacking  the 
passengers  with  their  swords,  kissing  the  women, 
and  using  foul  language  to  ladies  of  the  highest 
rank. 

At  that  time  it  was  the  custom  for  the  young  gal- 
lants of  the  court  to  wear  very  large  boots.  Carlos 
increased  the  size  of  his,  that  he  might  carry  in  them 
a  pair  of  small  pistols.  Fearing  mischief,  the  king 
ordered  the   shoemaker  to  reduce  the  size  of  his 


216  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

son's  boots ;  but  when  the  unlucky  son  of  St.  Cris- 
pin brought  them  to  the  palace,  the  prince  flew  into 
a  rage,  beat  him  severely,  and  then  ordered  the 
leather  to  be  cut  into  pieces  and  stewed,  and  forced 
the  shoemaker  to  swallow  it  on  the  spot — or  as  much 
of  it  as  he  could  get  down. 

These  are  only  a  sample  of  his  pranks.  He  beat 
his  governor,  attempted  to  throw  his  chamberlain 
out  of  the  window,  and  threatened  to  stab  Cardinal 
Espinosa  for  banishing  a  favorite  actor  from  the 
palace. 

One  anecdote  told  of  him  displays  a  reckless  and 
whimsical  humor.  Having  need  of  money,  Carlos 
asked  of  a  merchant,  named  Grimaldo,  a  loan  of 
fifteen  hundred  ducats.  The  money-lender  readily 
consented,  thanked  the  prince  for  the  compliment, 
and,  in  the  usual  grandiloquent  vein  of  Castilian 
courtesy,  told  Carlos  that  all  he  had  was  at  his  dis- 
posal. 

"  I  am  glad  to  learn  that,"  answered  the  prince. 
"  You  may  make  the  loan,  then,  one  hundred  thou- 
sand ducats." 

Poor  Grimaldo  was  thunderstruck.  He  trem- 
blingly protested  that  it  was  impossible, — he  had 
not  the  money.  "  It  would  ruin  my  credit,"  he  de- 
clared. "  What  I  said  were  only  words  of  compli- 
ment." 

"  You  have  no  right  to  bandy  compliments  with 
princes,"  Don  Carlos  replied.  "  I  take  you  at  your 
word.  If  you  do  not,  in  twenty-four  hours,  pay 
over  the  money  to  the  last  real,  you  shall  have  bitter 
cause  to  rue  it." 


THE   FATE   OF   A   RECKLESS   PRINCE.  217 

The  unhappy  Grimaldo  knew  not  what  to  do. 
Carlos  was  persistent.  It  took  much  negotiation  to 
induce  the  prince  to  reduce  the  sum  to  sixty  thou- 
sand ducats,  which  the  merchant  raised  and  paid, — 
with  a  malediction  on  all  words  of  compliment.  The 
money  flew  like  smoke  from  the  prince's  hands,  he 
being  quite  capable  of  squandering  the  revenues  of 
a  kingdom.  He  lived  io  the  utmost  splendor,  and 
was  lavish  with  all  who  came  near  him,  saying,  in 
support  of  his  gifts  and  charities,  "  Who  will  give  if 
princes  do  not  ?" 

The  mad  excesses  of  the  prince,  his  wild  defiance 
of  decency  and  decorum,  were  little  to  the  liking  of 
his  father,  who  surrounded  the  young  man  with 
agents  whom  he  justly  looked  upon  as  spies,  and  be- 
came wilder  in  his  conduct  in  consequence.  Offers 
of  marriage  were  made  from  abroad.  Catharine  de 
Medicis  proposed  the  hand  of  a  younger  sister  of 
Isabella.  The  emperor  of  Germany  pressed  for  a 
union  with  his  daughter  Anne,  the  cousin  of  Carlos. 
Philip  agreed  to  the  latter,  but  deferred  the  mar- 
riage. He  married  Anne  himself  after  the  death  of 
Carlos,  making  her  his  fourth  wife.  Thus  both  the 
princesses  intended  for  the  son  became  the  brides 
of  the  father. 

The  trouble  between  Carlos  and  his  father  steadily 
grew.  The  prince  was  now  twenty- one  years  of 
age,  and,  in  his  eagerness  for  a  military  life,  wished 
to  take  charge  of  afi'airs  in  the  !N'etherlands,  then  in 
rebellion  against  Spain.  On  learning  that  the  Duke 
of  Alva  was  to  be  sent  thither,  Carlos  said  to  him, 
"  You  are  not  to  go  there ;  I  will  go  myself." 


218  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

The  efforts  of  the  duke  to  soothe  him  only  irri- 
tated him,  and  in  the  end  he  drew  his  dagger  and 
exclaimed,  "  You  shall  not  go ;  if  you  do  I  will  kill 
you." 

A  struggle  followed,  the  prince  making  violent 
efforts  to  stab  the  duke.  It  only  ended  when  a 
chamberlain  came  in  and  rescued  Alva.  This  out- 
rage on  his  minister  doubled  the  feeling  of  animosity 
between  father  and  son,  and  they  grew  so  hostile 
that  they  ceased  to  speak,  though  living  in  the  same 
palace. 

The  next  escapade  of  Carlos  brought  matters  to  a 
crisis.  He  determined  to  fly  from  Spain  and  seek  a 
more  agreeable  home  in  Germany  or  the  Nether- 
lands. As  usual,  he  had  no  money,  and  he  tried 
to  obtain  funds  by  demanding  loans  from  different 
cities, — a  reckless  process  which  at  once  proclaimed 
that  he  had  some  mad  design  in  mind.  He  went 
further  than  this,  saying  to  his  confidants  that  "  he 
wished  to  kill  a  man  with  whom  he  had  a  quaiTel." 
This  purpose  he  confessed  to  a  priest,  and  demanded 
absolution.  The  priest  refused,  and,  as  the  prince 
persisted,  a  conclave  of  sixteen  monks  were  brought 
together  to  settle  the  question  of  whether  they  could 
give  absolution  to  such  a  penitent. 

After  a  debate  on  the  subject,  one  of  them  asked 
Carlos  the  name  of  his  enemy,  intimating  that  this 
might  have  some  effect  on  their  decision.  The  prince 
calmly  replied, — 

"  My  father  is  the  person.     I  wish  to  take  his  life." 

This  extraordinary  declaration,  in  which  the  mad 
prince  persisted,  threw  the  conclave  into  a  state  of 


THE   PATE   OF  A  RECKLESS   PRINCE.  219 

the  utmost  consternation.  On  breaking  up,  they 
sent  a  messenger  to  the  king,  then  at  the  Escorial 
Palace,  and  made  him  acquainted  with  the  whole 
affair.  This  story,  if  it  is  true,  seems  to  indicate 
that  the  prince  was  insane. 

His  application  to  the  cities  for  funds  was  in  a 
measure  successful.  By  the  middle  of  January,  1568, 
his  agents  brought  him  in  a  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand ducats, — a  fourth  of  the  sum  he  had  demanded. 
On  the  17th  he  sent  an  order  to  Don  Eamon  de 
Tassis,  director-general  of  the  posts,  demanding  that 
eight  horses  should  be  provided  for  him  that  evening. 
Tassis,  suspecting  something  wrong,  sent  word  that 
the  horses  were  all  out.  Carlos  repeated  his  order 
in  a  peremptory  manner,  and  the  postmaster  now 
sent  all  the  horses  out,  and  proceeded  with  the  news 
to  the  king  at  the  Escorial.  Philip  immediately  re- 
turned to  Madrid,  where,  the  next  morning,  Carlos 
attacked  his  uncle,  Don  John  of  Austria,  with  a 
drawn  sword,  because  the  latter  refused  to  repeat  a 
conversation  he  had  had  with  the  king. 

For  some  time  Carlos  had  slept  with  the  utmost 
precautions,  as  if  he  feared  an  attack  upon  his  life. 
His  sword  and  dagger  lay  ready  by  his  bedside,  and 
he  kept  a  loaded  musket  within  reach.  He  had  also 
a  bolt  constructed  in  such  a  manner  that,  by  aid  of 
pulleys,  he  could  fasten  or  unfasten  the  door  of  his 
chamber  while  in  bed.  All  this  was  known  to  Philip, 
and  he  ordered  the  mechanic  who  had  made  it  to 
derange  the  mechanism  so  that  it  would  not  work. 
To  force  a  way  into  the  chamber  of  a  man  like 
Carlos  might  not  have  been  Bafe. 


220  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

At  the  hour  of  eleven  that  night  the  king  came 
down-stair8,  wearing  armor  on  his  body  and  a  hel- 
met on  his  head.  With  him  were  the  Duke  of  Feria, 
captain  of  the  guard,  several  other  lords,  and  twelve 
guardsmen.  They  quietly  entered  the  chamber  of 
the  prince,  and  the  duke,  stealing  to  the  bedside,  se- 
cured the  sword,  dagger,  and  musket  which  lay  there. 

The  noise  now  wakened  Carlos,  who  sprang  up, 
demanding  who  w^as  there. 

"  It  is  the  council  of  state,"  answered  the  duke. 

On  hearing  this  the  prince  leaped  from  the  bed, 
uttering  threats  and  imprecations,  and  endeavored 
to  seize  his  arms.  Philip,  who  had  prudently  kept 
in  the  background  until  the  weapons  were  secured, 
now  advanced  and  bade  his  son  to  return  to  bed  and 
keep  quiet. 

"  What  does  your  majesty  want  of  me  ?"  demanded 
the  prince. 

"  You  will  soon  learn,"  Philip  harshly  replied. 

He  then  gave  orders  that  the  windows  and  doors 
of  the  room  should  be  strongly  secured  and  the  keys 
brought  to  him.  Every  article  of  furniture,  even 
the  andirons,  with  which  violence  might  have  been 
done,  was  removed  from  the  room.  The  king  then 
appointed  Feria  keeper  of  the  prince,  and  bade  the 
other  nobles  to  serve  him,  with  due  respect,  saying 
that  he  would  hold  them  as  traitors  if  they  permit- 
ted him  to  escape. 

"  Your  majesty  had  better  kill  me  than  keep  me 
a  prisoner,"  exclaimed  Carlos.  "  It  will  be  a  great 
scandal  to  the  kingdom.  If  you  do  not  kill  me  I 
will  kill  myself." 


THE   FATE   OF   A   RECKLESS   PRINCE.  221 

"You  will  do  no  such  thing,"  answered  Philip. 
"  That  would  be  the  act  of  a  madman." 

"  Your  majesty,"  replied  the  prince,  "  treats  me  so 
ill  that  you  drive  me  to  this  extremity.  I  am  not 
mad,  but  you  drive  me  to  despair." 

Other  words  passed,  and  on  the  withdrawal  of  the 
king  the  voice  of  Carlos  was  so  broken  by  sobs  that 
his  words  could  scarcely  be  heard.  That  night  the 
Duke  of  Feria  and  two  other  lords  remained  in  the 
prince's  room, — now  his  prison.  Each  succeeding 
night  two  of  the  six  appointed  lords  performed  this 
duty.  They  were  not  allowed  to  wear  their  swords 
in  the  presence  of  the  prince,  but  his  meat  was  cut 
up  before  serving,  as  no  knife  was  permitted  to  be 
used  at  his  meals.  A  guard  was  stationed  in  the 
passage  without,  and,  as  the  prince  could  not  look 
from  his  barricaded  windows,  he  was  from  that  day 
dead  to  the  world. 

The  king  immediately  summoned  his  council  of 
state  and  began  a  process  against  the  prisoner. 
Though  making  a  show  of  deep  affliction,  he  was 
present  at  all  the  meetings  and  listened  to  all  the 
testimony,  which,  when  written  out,  formed  a  heap 
of  paper  half  a  foot  thick. 

The  news  of  the  arrest  of  Don  Carlos  made  a  great 
sensation  in  Spain.  The  wildest  rumors  were  set 
afloat.  Some  said  that  he  had  tried  to  kill  his  father, 
others  that  he  was  plotting  rebellion.  Many  laid  all 
the  blame  on  the  king.  "  Others,  more  prudent  than 
their  neighbors,  laid  their  fingers  on  their  lips  and 
were  silent."  The  affair  created  almost  as  much 
sensation  throughout  Europe  as  in  Spain.     Philip, 


222  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

in  his  despatches  to  other  courts,  spoke  in  such 
vaguo  and  mysterious  language  that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  tell  what  he  meant,  and  the  most  varied 
surmises  were  advanced. 

Meanwhile,  Carlos  was  kept  rigorously  confined, 
so  much  so  that  he  was  not  left  alone  day  or  night. 
Of  the  two  nobles  in  his  chamber  at  night,  one 
was  required  to  keep  awake  while  the  other  slept. 
They  were  permitted  to  talk  with  him,  but  not 
on  political  matters  nor  on  the  subject  of  his  im- 
prisonment. They  were  ordered  to  bring  him  no 
messages  from  without  nor  receive  any  from  him. 
No  books  except  devotional  ones  were  allowed 
him. 

If  it  was  the  purpose  of  Philip  to  end  the  life  of 
his  son  by  other  means  than  execution  he  could  not 
have  taken  better  measures.  For  a  young  man  of 
his  high  spirit  and  fiery  temper  such  strict  confine- 
ment was  maddening.  At  first  he  was  thrown  into 
a  frenzy,  and  tried  more  than  once  to  make  way 
with  himself  The  sullenness  of  despair  succeeded. 
He  grew  daily  more  emaciated,  and  the  malarial 
fever  which  had  so  long  affected  him  now  returned 
in  a  severe  degree.  To  allay  the  heat  of  the  fever 
he  would  deluge  the  floor  of  his  chamber  with  water, 
and  walk  for  hours  with  bare  feet  on  the  cold  floor. 
He  had  a  warming-pan  filled  with  ice  and  snow 
brought  him,  and  kept  it  for  hours  at  night  in  his 
bed.  He  would  drink  snow-water  in  immoderate 
draughts.  In  his  eating  he  seemed  anxious  to  break 
down  his  strength, — now  refusing  all  food  for  days 
together,  now  devouring  a  pasty  of  four  partridges 


THE  FATE   OF   A   RECKLESS   PRINCE.  223 

at  a  sitting,  washing  it  down  with  three  gallons  or 
more  of  iced  water. 

That  he  was  permitted  to  indulge  in  such  caprices 
seems  to  indicate  that  Philip  wished  him  to  kill  him- 
self. 'No  constitution,  certainly  not  so  weak  a  one 
as  that  of  Carlos,  could  long  withstand  these  ex- 
cesses. His  stomach  refused  to  perform  its  duty; 
severe  vomiting  attacked  him ;  dysentery  set  in ; 
his  strength  rapidly  failed.  The  expected  end  came 
on  the  24th  of  July,  six  months  after  the  date  of 
his  imprisonment,  death  releasing  the  prince  from 
the  misery  of  his  unhappy  lot.  One  writer  tells  us 
that  it  was  hastened  by  a  strong  purgative  dose,  ad- 
ministered by  his  father's  orders,  and  that  he  was 
really  assassinated.  However  that  be,  Philip  was 
certainly  quite  willing  that  he  should  destroy  his 
own  life.  To  one  of  his  austere  temperament  it  was 
probably  an  easy  solution  of  a  difficult  problem. 

Less  than  three  months  passed  after  the  death  of 
Carlos  when  Isabella  followed  him  to  the  grave. 
She  was  then  but  twenty-three  years  old, — about 
the  same  age  as  himself.  The  story  was  soon  set 
afloat  that  Philip  had  murdered  both  his  son  and  his 
wife,  moved  thereto  by  jealousy ;  and  from  this  has 
arisen  the  romantic  story  of  secret  love  between  the 
two,  with  the  novels  and  dramas  based  thereon. 
In  all  probability  the  story  is  without  foundation. 
Philip  is  said  to  have  been  warmly  loved  by  his  wife, 
and  the  poison  which  carried  her  away  seems  to  have 
been  the  heavy  doses  of  medicine  with  which  the 
doctors  of  that  day  sought  to  cure  a  passing  illness. 


SPAIN'S  GREATEST  VICTORY  AT 
SEA. 


On  the  16th  of  September,  1571,  there  sailed  from 
the  harbor  of  Messina  one  of  the  greatest  fleets  the 
Mediterranean  had  ever  borne  upon  its  waves.  It 
consisted  of  more  than  three  hundred  vessels,  most 
of  them  small,  but  some  of  great  bulk  for  that  day, 
carrying  forty  pieces  of  artillery.  On  board  these 
ships  were  eighty  thousand  men.  Of  these,  less  than 
thirty  thousand  were  soldiers,  for  in  those  days, 
when  war-galleys  were  moved  by  oars  rather  than 
sails,  great  numbers  of  oarsmen  were  needed.  At 
the  head  of  this  powerful  armament  was  Don  John 
of  Austria,  brother  of  Philip  II.,  and  the  ablest 
naval  commander  that  Spain  possessed. 

At  sunrise  on  the  7th  of  October  the  Spanish  fleet 
came  in  sight,  at  the  entrance  to  the  Bay  of  Lepanto, 
on  the  west  of  Greece,  of  the  great  Turkish  arma- 
ment, consisting  of  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty 
royal  galleys,  with  a  number  of  smaller  vessels  in 
the  rear.  On  these  ships  are  said  to  have  been  not 
less  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  men. 
A  great  battle  for  the  control  of  the  Mediterranean 
was  about  to  be  fought  between  two  of  the  largest 
fleets  ever  seen  on  its  waters. 

For  more  than  a  century  the  Turks  had  been 
224 


Spain's  greatest  victory  at  sea.  225 

masters  of  Constantinople  and  the  Eastern  Empire, 
and  had  extended  their  dominion  far  to  the  west. 
The  Mediterranean  had  become  a  Turkish  lake, 
which  the  fleets  of  the  Ottoman  emperors  swept  at 
will.  Cyprus  had  fallen,  Malta  had  sustained  a  ter- 
rible siege,  and  the  coasts  of  Italy  and  Spain  were 
exposed  to  frightful  ravages,  in  which  the  corsairs 
of  the  Barbary  states  joined  hands  with  the  Turks. 
France  only  was  exempt,  its  princes  having  made 
an  alliance  with  Turkey,  in  which  they  gained 
safety  at  the  cost  of  honor. 

Spain  was  the  leading  opponent  of  this  devastating 
power.  For  centuries  the  Spanish  people  had  been 
engaged  in  a  bitter  crusade  against  the  Moslem 
forces.  The  conquest  of  Granada  was  followed  by 
descents  upon  the  African  coast,  the  most  important 
of  which  was  the  conquest  of  Tunis  by  Charles 
the  Fifth  in  1535,  on  which  occasion  ten  thousand 
Christian  captives  were  set  free  from  a  dreadful 
bondage.  An  expedition  against  Tripoli  in  1559, 
however,  ended  in  disaster,  the  Turks  and  the 
Moors  continued  triumphant  at  sea,  and  it  was  not 
until  1571  that  the  proud  Moslem  powers  received  an 
effectual  check. 

The  great  fleet  of  which  Don  John  of  Austria 
was  admiral-in-chief  had  not  come  solely  from 
Spain.  Genoa  had  furnished  a  large  number  of  gal- 
leys, under  their  famous  admiral,  Andrew  Doria, — 
a  name  to  make  the  Moslems  tremble.  Venice  had 
added  its  fleet,  and  the  Papal  States  had  sent  a 
strong  contingent  of  ships.  Italy  had  been  suffer- 
ing from  the  Turkish  fleet,  fire  and  sword  had  turned 

15 


226  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

the  Yenetian  coasts  into  a  smoking  desolation,  and 
this  was  the  answer  of  Christian  Europe  to  the 
Turkish  menace. 

The  sight  of  the  Turkish  fleet  on  that  memorable 
7th  of  October  created  instant  animation  in  the 
Christian  armament.  Don  John  hoisted  his  pennon, 
ordered  the  great  standard  of  the  league,  given  by 
the  Pope,  to  be  unfurled,  and  fired  a  gun  in  defiance 
of  the  Turks.  Some  of  the  commanders  doubted 
the  wisdom  of  engaging  the  enemy  in  a  position 
where  he  had  the  advantage,  but  the  daring  young 
commander  curtly  cut  short  the  discussion. 

"Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "this  is  the  time  for  com- 
bat, not  for  counsel." 

Steadily  the  two  fleets  approached  each  other  on 
that  quiet  sea.  The  Spanish  ships  extended  over  a 
width  of  three  miles.  On  the  right  was  Andrew 
Doria,  with  sixty-four  galleys.  The  centre,  consist- 
ing of  sixty-three  galleys,  was  commanded  by  Don 
John,  with  Colonna,  the  captain-general  of  the  Pope, 
on  one  flank,  and  Yeniero,  the  Yenetian  captain- 
general,  on  the  other.  The  left  wing,  commanded 
by  the  noble  Yenetian  Barbarigo,  extended  as  near 
to  the  coast  of  ^tolia  as  it  was  deemed  safe  to  ven- 
ture. The  reserve,  of  thirty-five  galleys,  was  under 
the  Marquis  of  Santa  Cruz.  The  plan  of  battle  was 
simple.  Don  John's  orders  to  his  captains  were  for 
each  to  seject  an  adversary,  close  with  him  at  once, 
and  board  as  soon  as  possible. 

As  the  fleet  advanced  the  armament  of  the  Turks 
came  into  full  view,  spread  out  in  half- moon  shape 
over  a  wider  space  than  that  of  the  allies.     The  great 


Spain's  greatest  victory  at  sea  227 

galleys,  with  their  gilded  and  brightly  painted  prows 
and  their  myriad  of  banners  and  pennons,  presented 
a  magnificent  spectacle.  But  the  wind,  which  had 
thus  far  favored  the  Turks,  now  suddenly  shifted  and 
blew  in  their  faces,  and  the  sun,  as  the  day  advanced, 
shone  directly  in  their  eyes.  The  centre  of  their 
line  was  occupied  by  the  huge  galley  of  Ali  Pasha, 
their  leader.  Their  right  was  commanded  by  Ma- 
homet Sirocco,  viceroy  of  Egypt ;  their  left  by  Uluch 
AU,  dey  of  Algiers,  the  most  redoubtable  of  the  cor- 
sair lords  of  the  sea. 

The  breeze  continued  light.  It  was  nearly  noon 
when  the  fleets  came  face  to  face.  The  sun,  now 
nearing  the  zenith,  shone  down  from  a  cloudless  sky. 
As  yet  it  seemed  like  some  grand  holiday  spectacle 
rather  than  the  coming  of  a  struggle  for  life  or  death. 

Suddenly  the  shrill  war-cry  of  the  Turks  rang  out 
on  the  air.  Their  cannon  began  to  play.  The  firing 
ran  along  the  line  until  the  whole  fleet  was  engaged. 
On  the  Christian  side  the  trumpets  rang  defiance 
and  the  guns  answered  the  Turkish  peals.  The 
galeazzas,  a  number  of  mammoth  war-ships,  had 
been  towed  a  half-mile  in  advance  of  the  Spanish 
fleet,  and  as  the  Turks  came  up  poured  broadsides 
from  their  heavy  guns  with  striking  effbct,  doing 
considerable  damage.  But  Ali  Pasha,  not  caring  to 
engage  these  monster  craft,  opened  his  lines  and 
passed  them  by.  They  had  done  their  work,  and 
took  no  further  part,  being  too  unwieldy  to  enter 
into  close  action. 

The  battle  began  on  the  left.  Barbarigo,  the  Ve- 
netian admiral,  had  brought  his  ships  as  near  the 


228  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

coast  as  he  dared.  But  Mahomet  Sirocco  knew  the 
waters  better,  passed  between  his  ships  and  the  shore, 
and  doubled  upon  him,  bringing  the  Christian  line 
between  two  fires.  Barbarigo  was  wounded,  eight 
galleys  were  sent  to  the  bottom,  and  several  were 
captured.  Yet  the  Venetians,  who  hated  the  Turks 
with  a  mortal  hatred,  fought  on  with  unyielding 
fury. 

Uluch  Ali,  on  the  Christian  right,  tried  the  same 
manoeuvre.  But  he  had  Andrew  Doria,  the  experi- 
enced Genoese,  to  deal  with,  and  his  purpose  was 
defeated  by  a  wide  extension  of  the  Christian  line. 
It  was  a  trial  of  skill  between  the  two  ablest  com- 
manders on  the  Mediterranean.  Doria,  by  stretch- 
ing out  his  line,  had  weakened  his  centre,  and  the 
corsair  captain,  with  alert  decision,  fell  upon  some 
galleys  separated  from  their  companions,  sinking 
several,  and  carrying  off  the  great  Capitana  of  Malta 
as  a  prize. 

Thus  both  on  the  right  and  on  the  left  the  Chris- 
tians had  the  worst  of  it.  The  severest  struggle  was 
in  the  centre.  Here  were  the  flag-ships  of  the  com- 
manders,— the  Keal,  Don  John's  vessel,  flying  the 
holy  banner  of  the  League  ;  Ali  Pasha  displaying  the 
great  Ottoman  standard,  covered  with  texts  from 
the  Koran  in  letters  of  gold,  and  having  the  name 
of  Allah  written  upon  it  many  thousands  of  times. 

Both  the  commanders,  young  and  ardent,  burned 
with  desire  to  meet  in  mid  battle.  The  rowers  urged 
forward  their  vessels  with  an  energy  that  sent  them 
ahead  of  the  rest  of  their  lines,  driving  them  through 
the  foaming  water  with  such  force  that  the  pasha's 


SPAIN'S   GREATEST   VICTORY  AT   SEA.  229 

galley,  much  the  larger  and  loftier  of  the  two,  was 
hurled  upon  its  opponent  until  its  prow  reached  the 
fourth  bench  of  rowers.  Both  vessels  groaned  and 
quivered  to  their  very  keels  with  the  shock. 

As  soon  as  the  vessels  could  be  disengaged  the 
combat  began,  the  pasha  opening  with  a  fierce  fire 
of  cannon  and  musketry,  which  was  returned  with 
equal  fury  and  more  effect.  The  Spanish  gunners 
and  musketeers  were  protected  by  high  defences, 
and  much  of  the  Turkish  fire  went  over  their  heads, 
while  their  missiles,  poured  into  the  unprotected  and 
crowded  crews  of  All's  flag-ship,  caused  terrible  loss. 
But  the  Turks  had  much  the  advantage  in  numbers, 
and  both  sides  fought  with  a  courage  that  made  the 
result  a  matter  of  doubt. 

The  flag-ships  were  not  long  left  alone.  Other 
vessels  quickly  gathered  round  them,  and  the  com- 
bat spread  fiercely  to  both  sides.  The  new-comers 
attacked  one  another  and  assailed  at  every  oppor- 
tunity the  two  central  ships.  But  the  latter,  beating 
off  their  assailants,  clung  together  with  unyielding 
pertinacity,  as  if  upon  them  depended  the  whole 
issue  of  the  fight. 

The  complete  width  of  the  entrance  to  the  bay  of 
Lepanto  was  now  a  scene  of  mortal  combat,  though 
the  vessels  were  so  lost  under  a  pall  of  smoke  that 
none  of  the  combatants  could  see  far  to  the  right  or 
left.  The  lines,andeed,  were  broken  up  into  small 
detachments,  each  fighting  the  antagonists  in  their 
front,  and  ignorant  of  what  was  going  on  elsewhere. 
The  battle  was  in  no  sense  a  grand  whole,  but  a 
series  of  separate  combats  in  which  the  galleys  grap- 


230  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

pled  and  the  soldiers  and  sailors  boarded  and  fought 
hand  to  hand.  The  slaughter  was  frightful.  In  the 
case  of  some  vessels,  it  is  said,  every  man  on  board 
was  killed  or  wounded,  while  the  blood  that  flowed 
from  the  decks  stained  the  waters  of  the  gulf  red 
for  miles. 

The  left  wing  of  the  allies,  as  has  been  said,  was 
worsted  at  the  beginning  of  the  fight,  its  commander 
receiving  a  wound  which  proved  mortal.  But  the 
Venetians  fought  on  with  the  courage  of  despair. 
In  the  end  they  drove  back  their  adversaries  and 
themselves  became  the  assailants,  taking  vessel  after 
vessel  from  the  foe.  The  vessel  of  Mahomet  Sirocco 
was  sunk,  and  he  was  slain  after  escaping  death  by 
drowning.  His  death  ended  the  resistance  of  his 
followers.  They  turned  to  fly,  many  of  the  vessels 
being  run  ashore  and  abandoned  and  their  crews 
largely  perishing  in  the  water. 

While  victory  in  this  quarter  perched  on  the  Chris- 
tian banners,  the  mortal  struggle  in  the  centre  went 
on.  The  flag-ships  still  clung  together,  an  incessant 
fire  of  artillery  and  musketry  sweeping  both  decks. 
The  Spaniards  proved  much  the  better  marksmen, 
but  the  greater  numbers  of  the  Turks,  and  reinforce- 
ments received  from  an  accompanying  vessel,  bal- 
anced this  advantage.  Twice  the  Spaniards  tried  to 
board  and  were  driven  back.  A  third  eff^ort  was 
more  successful,  and  the  deck  of  the  Turkish  galley 
was  reached.  The  two  commanders  cheered  on  their 
men,  exposing  themselves  to  danger  as  freely  as  the 
meanest  soldier.  Don  John  received  a  wound  in  the 
foot, — fortunately  a  slight  one.    Ali  Pasha  led  his 


Spain's  greatest  victory  at  sea.         231 

janizaries  boldly  against  the  boarders,  but  as  he  did 
so  he  was  struck  in  the  head  by  a  musket-ball  and 
fell.  The  loss  of  his  inspiring  voice  discouraged  his 
men.  For  a  time  they  continued  to  struggle,  but, 
borne  back  by  their  impetuous  assailants,  they  threw 
down  their  arms  and  asked  for  quarter. 

The  deck  was  covered  with  the  bodies  of  the  dead 
and  wounded.  From  beneath  them  the  body  of  Ali 
was  drawn,  severely,  perhaps  mortally,  wounded. 
His  rescuers  would  have  killed  him  on  the  spot,  but 
he  diverted  them  by  pointing  out  where  his  money 
and  jewels  could  be  found.  The  next  soldier  to  come 
up  was  one  of  the  galley-slaves,  whom  Don  John  had 
unchained  from  the  oar  and  supplied  with  arms. 
All's  story  of  treasure  was  lost  on  him.  With  one 
blow  he  severed  his  head  from  his  shoulders,  and 
carried  the  gory  prize  to  Don  John,  laying  it  at  his 
feet.  The  generous  Spaniard  looked  at  it  with  a 
mingling  of  pity  and  horror. 

"  Of  what  use  can  such  a  present  be  to  me  ?"  he 
coldly  asked  the  slave,  who  looked  for  some  rich  re- 
ward ;  "  throw  it  into  the  sea." 

This  was  not  done.  The  head  was  stuck  on  a 
pike  and  raised  aloft  on  the  captured  galley.  At  the 
same  time  the  great  Ottoman  banner  was  drawn 
down,  while  that  of  the  Cross  was  elevated  with 
cheers  of  triumph  in  its  place. 

The  shouts  of  "  victory !"  the  sight  of  the  Chris- 
tian standard  at  the  mast-head  of  All's  ship,  the 
news  of  his  death,  which  spread  from  ship  to  ship, 
gave  new  courage  to  the  allies  and  robbed  the 
Turks  of  spirit.     They  fought  on,  but  more  feebly. 


2^2  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

Many  of  their  vessels  were  boarded  and  taken. 
Others  were  sunk.  After  four  hours  of  fighting 
the  resistance  of  the  Turkish  centre  was  at  an  end. 

On  the  right,  as  related,  Andrew  Doria  had  suf- 
fered a  severe  loss  by  stretching  his  line  too  far. 
He  would  have  suffered  still  more  had  not  the  re- 
serve under  Santa  Cruz,  which  had  already  given 
aid  to  Don  John,  come  to  his  relief  Strengthened 
by  Cardona  with  the  Sicilian  squadron,  he  fell  on 
the  Algerine  galleys  with  such  fierceness  that  they 
were  forced  to  recoil.  In  their  retreat  they  were 
hotly  assailed  by  Doria,  and  Uluch,  beset  on  all 
sides,  was  obliged  to  abandon  his  prizes  and  take  to 
flight.  Tidings  now  came  to  him  of  the  defeat  of 
the  centre  and  the  death  of  Ali,  and,  hoisting  signals 
for  retreat,  he  stood  in  all  haste  to  the  north,  followed 
by  the  galleys  of  his  fleet. 

With  all  sail  spread  and  all  its  oarsmen  vigor- 
ously at  work,  the  corsair  fleet  sped  rapidly  away, 
followed  by  Doria  and  Santa  Cruz.  Don  John  joined 
in  the  pursuit,  hoping  to  intercept  the  fugitives  in 
front  of  a  rocky  headland  which  stretched  far  into 
the  sea.  But  the  skilled  Algerine  leader  weathered 
this  peril,  losing  a  few  vessels  on  the  rocks,  the  re- 
mainder, nearly  forty  in  number,  bearing  boldly 
onward.  Soon  they  distanced  their  pursuers,  many 
of  whose  oarsmen  had  taken  part  and  been  wounded 
in  the  fight.  Before  nightfall  the  Algerines  were 
vanishing  below  the  horizon. 

There  being  signs  of  a  coming  storm,  Don  John 
hastened  to  seek  a  harbor  of  refuge,  setting  fire  to 
such  vessels  as  were  damaged  beyond  usefulness,  and 


Spain's  greatest  victory  at  sea.         233 

with  the  remainder  of  his  prizes  making  all  haste 
to  the  neighboring  port  of  Petala,  the  best  harbor 
within  reach. 

The  loss  of  the  Turks  had  been  immense,  prob- 
ably not  less  than  twenty-five  thousand  being  killed 
and  five  thousand  taken  prisoners.  To  I'on  John's 
prizes  may  be  added  twelve  thousand  Chf-i-itian  cap. 
tives,  chained  to  the  oars  by  the  Turks,  -/ho  now 
came  forth,  with  tears  of  joy,  to  bless  theit  deliver- 
ers. The  allies  had  lost  no  more  than  e^at  thou- 
sand men.  This  discrepancy  was  largely  due  to 
their  use  of  fire-arms,  while  many  of  the  Turks 
fought  with  bows  and  arrows.  Only  the  forty  Al- 
gerine  ships  escaped  ;  one  hundred  and  thirty  vessels 
were  taken.  The  Christian  loss  was  but  fifteen  gal- 
leys. The  spoils  were  large  and  valuable,  consisting 
in  great  measure  of  gold,  jewels,  and  rich  brocades. 

Of  the  noble  cavaliers  who  took  part  in  the  fight, 
we  shall  speak  only  of  Alexander  Farnese,  Prince 
of  Parma,  a  nephew  of  Don  John,  whom  he  was 
destined  to  succeed  in  military  renown.  He  began 
here  his  career  with  a  display  of  courage  and  daring 
unsurpassed  on  the  fleet.  Among  the  combatants 
was  a  common  soldier,  Cervantes  by  name,  whose 
future  glory  was  to  throw  into  the  shade  that  of  all 
the  leaders  in  the  fight.  Though  confined  to  bed 
with  a  fever  on  the  morning  of  the  battle,  he  in- 
sisted on  taking  part,  and  his  courage  in  the  aff'ray 
was  shown  by  two  wounds  on  his  breast  and  a  third 
in  his  hand  which  disabled  it  for  life.  Fortunately 
it  was  the  left  hand.  The  right  remained  to  writo 
the  immortal  story  of  Don  Quixote  de  la  Mancha. 


\ 

234  HISTOEICAL  TALES. 

Thus  ended  one  of  the  greatest  naval  battles  of 
modern  times.  ]N"o  important  political  effect  came 
from  it,  but  it  yielded  an  immense  moral  result.  It 
had  been  the  opinion  of  Europe  that  the  Turks  were 
invincible  it  sea.  This  victory  dispelled  that  theory, 
gave  new  Heart  to  Christendom,  and  so  dispirited  the 
Turks  th/u  in  the  next  year  they  dared  not  meet  the 
Christia^^^  at  sea,  though  they  were  commanded  by 
the  dari^V  dey  of  Algiers.  The  beginning  of  the 
decline  ot'^^e  Ottoman  empire  may  be  said  to  date 
from  the  battle  of  Lepanto. 


THE  INVINCIBLE  ARMADA. 

During  almost  the  whole  reign  of  Philip  II.  the 
army  of  Spain  was  kept  busily  engaged,  now  with 
the  Turks  and  the  Barbary  states,  now  with  the  re- 
volted Moriscos,  or  descendants  of  the  Moors  of 
Granada,  now  in  the  conquest  of  Portugal,  now  with 
the  heretics  of  the  ^Netherlands.  All  this  was  not 
enough  for  the  ambition  of  the  Spanish  king.  Eliza- 
beth of  England  had  aided  the  Netherland  rebels 
and  had  insulted  him  in  America  by  sending  fleets 
to  plunder  his  colonies ;  England,  besides,  was  a  nest 
of  enemies  of  the  true  church,  who  needed  conver- 
sion by  fire  and  sword ;  Philip  determined  on  the 
conquest  of  that  uncivil  and  perfidious  island  and 
the  enforced  catholization  of  its  people. 

For  months  all  the  shipwrights  of  Spain  were 
kept  busy  in  building  vessels  of  an  extraordinary 
size.  Throughout  the  kingdom  stores  were  actively 
collected  for  their  equipment.  Levies  of  soldiers 
were  made  in  Italy,  Germany,  and  the  Netherlands, 
to  augment  the  armies  of  Spain.  What  was  in  view 
was  the  secret  of  the  king,  but  through  most  of 
1587  all  Europe  resounded  with  the  noise  of  his 
preparations. 

Philip  broached  his  project  to  his  council  of  state, 
but  did  not  gain  much  support  for  his  enterprise. 
"  England,"  said  one  of  them,  "  is  surrounded  with 

235 


236  HISTOEICAL   TALES. 

a  tempestuous  ocean  and  has  few  harbors.  Its  navy 
is  equal  to  that  of  any  other  nation,  and  if  a  landing 
is  made  we  shall  find  its  coasts  defended  by  a  power- 
ful army.  It  would  be  better  first  to  subdue  the 
Netherlands;  that  done  we  shall  be  better  able  to 
chastise  the  English  queen."  The  Duke  of  Parma, 
Philip's  general  in  chief,  was  of  the  same  opinion. 
Before  any  success  could  be  hoped  for,  he  said,  Spain 
should  get  possession  of  some  large  seaport  in  Zea- 
land, for  the  accommodation  of  its  fleet. 

These  prudent  counsels  were  thrown  away  on  the 
self-willed  king.  His  armies  had  lately  conquered 
Portugal ;  England  could  not  stand  before  their  valor ; 
one  battle  at  sea  and  another  on  shore  would  decide 
the  contest;  the  fleet  he  was  building  would  over- 
whelm all  the  ships  that  England  possessed;  the 
land  forces  of  Elizabeth,  undisciplined  and  unused  to 
war,  could  not  resist  his  veteran  troops,  the  heroes 
of  a  hundred  battles,  and  led  by  the  greatest  general 
of  the  age.  All  this  he  insisted  on.  Europe  should 
see  what  he  could  do.  England  should  be  punished 
for  its  heresy  and  Elizabeth  pay  dearly  for  her  dis- 
courtesy. 

Philip  was  confirmed  in  his  purpose  by  the  appro- 
bation of  the  Pope.  Elizabeth  of  England  was  the 
greatest  enemy  of  the  Catholic  faith.  She  had  abol- 
ished it  throughout  her  dominions  and  executed  as  a 
traitor  the  Catholic  Queen  Mary  of  Scotland.  For 
nearly  thirty  years  she  had  been  the  chief  support  of 
the  Protestants  in  Germany,  France,  and  the  Nether- 
lands. The  interests  of  the  Church  demanded  that 
its  arch-enemy  should  be  deprived  of  power.     The 


THE   INVINCIBLE  ARMADA.  237 

Pope,  therefore,  encouraged  the  Spanish  king,  and 
he,  whose  highest  ambition  was  to  be  considered  the 
guardian  of  the  Church,  hastened  his  preparations 
for  the  conquest  of  the  island  kingdom. 

Elizabeth  was  not  deceived  by  the  falsehoods  set 
afloat  by  Spain.  She  did  not  believe  that  this  great 
fleet  was  intended  partly  for  the  reduction  of  Hol- 
land, partly  for  use  in  America,  as  Philip  declared. 
Scenting  danger  afar,  she  sent  Sir  Francis  Drake 
with  a  fleet  to  the  coast  of  Spain  to  interrupt  these 
stupendous  preparations. 

Drake  was  the  man  for  the  work.  Dispersing  the 
Spanish  fleet  sent  to  oppose  him,  he  entered  the 
harbor  of  Cadiz,  where  he  destroyed  two  large  gal- 
leons and  a  handsome  vessel  filled  with  provisions 
and  naval  stores.  Then  he  sailed  for  the  Azores, 
captured  a  rich  carrack  on  the  way  home  from  the 
East  Indies,  and  returned  to  England  laden  with 
spoils.  He  had  effectually  put  an  end  to  Philip's 
enterprise  for  that  year. 

Philip  now  took  steps  towards  a  treaty  of  peace 
with  England,  for  the  purpose  of  quieting  the  sus- 
picions of  the  queen.  She  appeared  to  fall  into  the 
snare,  pretended  to  believe  that  his  fleet  was  intended 
for  Holland  and  America,  and  entered  into  a  con- 
ference with  Spain  for  the  settlement  of  all  dis- 
turbing questions.  But  at  the  same  time  she  raised 
an  army  of  eighty  thousand  men,  fortified  all  ex- 
posed ports,  and  went  vigorously  to  work  to  equip 
her  fleet.  She  had  then  less  than  thirty  ships  in  her 
navy,  and  these  much  smaller  than  those  of  Spain, 
but  the  English  sailors  were  the  best  and  boldest  in 


238  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

the  world,  new  ships  were  rapidly  built,  and  pains 
was  taken  to  increase  the  abhorrence  which  the 
people  felt  for  the  tyranny  of  Spain.  Accounts  were 
spread  abroad  of  the  barbarities  practised  in  America 
and  in  the  Netherlands,  vivid  pictures  were  drawn 
of  the  cruelties  of  the  Inquisition,  and  the  Catholic 
as  well  as  the  Protestant  people  of  England  became 
active  in  preparing  for  defence.  The  whole  island 
was  of  one  mind ;  loyalty  seemed  universal ;  the  citi- 
zens of  London  provided  thirty  ships,  and  the  no- 
bility and  gentry  of  England  forty  or  fifty  more. 
But  these  were  of  small  size  as  compared  with  those 
of  their  antagonist,  and  throughout  the  island  ap- 
prehension prevailed. 

In  the  beginning  of  May,  1588,  Philip's  strenuous 
labors  were  concluded  and  the  great  fleet  was  ready. 
It  was  immense  as  compared  with  that  with  which 
William  the  Conqueror  had  invaded  and  conquered 
England  five  centuries  before.  The  Invincible  Ar- 
mada, as  the  Spaniards  called  it,  consisted  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  ships,  many  of  them  of  enormous 
size.  They  were  armed  with  more  than  two  thou- 
sand six  hundred  great  guns,  were  provisioned  for 
half  a  year,  and  contained  military  stores  in  a  pro- 
fusion which  only  the  wealth  of  America  and  the 
Indies  could  have  supplied.  On  them  were  nearly 
twenty  thousand  of  the  famous  troops  of  Spain,  with 
two  thousand  volunteers  of  the  most  distinguished 
families,  and  eight  thousand  sailors.  In  addition 
there  was  assembled  in  the  coast  districts  of  the 
Netherlands  an  army  of  thirty-four  thousand  men, 
for  whose  transportation  to  England  a  great  number 


THE   INVINCIBLE   ARMADA.  239 

of  flat- bottomed  vessels  had  been  procured.  These 
were  to  venture  upon  the  sea  as  soon  as  the  Armada 
was  in  position  for  their  support. 

And  now,  indeed,  "  perfidious  Albion"  had  reason 
to  tremble.  I^ever  had  that  nation  of  islanders  been 
so  seriously  threatened,  not  even  when  the  ships  of 
William  of  Normandy  were  setting  sail  for  its  shores. 
The  great  fleet,  which  lay  at  Lisbon,  then  a  city  of 
Spain,  was  to  set  sail  in  the  early  days  of  May,  and 
no  small  degree  of  fear  affected  the  hearts  of  all 
Protestant  Europe,  for  the  conquest  of  England  by 
Philip  the  fanatic  would  have  been  a  frightful  blow 
to  the  cause  of  religious  and  political  liberty. 

All  had  so  far  gone  well  with  Spain ;  now  all  began 
to  go  ill.  At  the  very  time  fixed  for  sailing  the 
Marquis  of  Santa  Cruz,  the  admiral  of  the  fleet,  was 
taken  violently  ill  and  died,  and  with  him  died  the 
Duke  of  Paliano,  the  vice-admiral.  Santa  Cruz's 
place  was  not  easy  to  fill.  Philip  chose  to  succeed 
him  the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  a  nobleman  totally 
ignorant  of  sea  affairs,  giving  him  for  vice-admiral 
Martinez  de  Eecaldo,  a  seaman  of  much  experience. 
All  this  caused  so  much  delay  that  the  fleet  did  not 
sail  till  May  29. 

Storm  succeeded  sickness  to  interfere  with  Philip's 
plans.  A  tempest  fell  on  the  fleet  on  its  way  to 
Corunna,  where  it  was  to  take  on  some  troops  and 
stores.  All  but  four  of  the  ships  reached  Corunna, 
but  they  had  been  so  battered  and  dishevelled  by 
the  winds  that  several  weeks  passed  before  they 
could  again  be  got  ready  for  sea, — much  to  the  dis- 
comfiture of  the  king,  who  was  eager  to  become  the 


240  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

lord  and  master  of  England.  He  had  dwelt  there 
in  former  years  as  the  husband  of  Queen  Mary; 
now  he  was  ambitious  to  set  foot  there  as  absolute 
king. 

England,  meanwhile,  was  in  an  ebullition  of  joy. 
Word  had  reached  there  that  the  Spanish  fleet  was 
rendered  unseaworthy  by  the  storm,  and  the  queen's 
secretary,  in  undue  haste,  ordered  Lord  Howard,  the 
admiral,  to  lay  up  four  of  his  largest  ships  and  dis- 
charge their  crews,  as  they  would  not  be  needed. 
But  Howard  was  not  so  ready  to  believe  a  vague 
report,  and  begged  the  queen  to  let  him  keep  the 
ships,  even  if  at  his  own  expense,  till  the  truth  could 
be  learned.  To  satisfy  himself,  he  set  sail  for  Co- 
runna,  intending  to  try  and  destroy  the  Armada  if 
as  much  injured  as  reported.  Learning  the  truth, 
and  finding  that  a  favorable  wind  for  Spain  had  be- 
gun to  blow,  he  returned  to  Plymouth  in  all  haste, 
in  some  dread  lest  the  Armada  might  precede  him 
to  the  English  coast. 

He  had  not  long  been  back  when  stirring  tidings 
came.  The  Armada  had  been  seen  upon  the  seas. 
Lord  Howard  at  once  left  harbor  with  his  fleet.  The 
terrible  moment  of  conflict,  so  long  and  nervously 
awaited,  was  at  hand.  On  the  next  day — July  30 — 
he  came  in  view  of  the  great  Spanish  fleet,  drawn 
up  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  with  a  space  of  seven 
miles  between  its  wings.  Before  this  giant  fleet  his 
own  seemed  but  a  dwarf  Paying  no  attention  to 
Lord  Howard's  ships,  the  Armada  moved  on  with 
dignity  up  the  Channel,  its  purpose  being  to  disperse 
the  Dutch  and  English  ships  off  the  Netherland  coast 


THE   INVINCIBLE   ARMADA.  241 

and  escort  to  England  the  Duke  of  Parma's  army, 
then  ready  to  sail. 

Lord  Howard  deemed  it  wisest  to  pursue  a  guerilla 
mode  of  warfare,  harassing  the  Spaniards  and  taking 
any  advantage  that  offered.  He  first  attacked  the 
flag-ship  of  the  vice-admiral  Eecaldo,  and  with  such 
vigor  and  dexterity  as  to  excite  great  alarm  in  the 
Spanish  fleet.  From  that  time  it  kept  closer  order,  yet 
on  the  same  day  Howard  attacked  one  of  its  largest 
ships.  Others  hurried  to  the  aid  ;  but  in  their  haste 
two  of  them  ran  afoul,  one,  a  large  galleon,  having 
her  mast  broken.  She  fell  behind  and  was  captured 
by  Sir  Francis  Drake,  who  discovered,  to  his  delight, 
that  she  had  on  board  a  chief  part  of  the  Spanish 
treasure. 

Other  combats  took  place,  in  all  of  which  the 
English  were  victorious.  The  Spaniards  proved  ig- 
norant of  marine  evolutions,  and  the  English  sailed 
around  them  with  a  velocity  which  none  of  their 
ships  could  equal,  and  proved  so  much  better  marks- 
men that  nearly  every  shot  told,  while  the  Spanish 
gunners  fired  high  and  wasted  their  balls  in  the  air. 
The  fight  with  the  Armada  seemed  a  prototype  of 
the  much  later  sea-battles  at  Manila  and  Santiago 
de  Cuba. 

Finally,  after  a  halt  before  Calais,  the  Armada 
came  within  sight  of  Dunkirk,  where  Parma's  army, 
with  its  flat-bottomed  transports,  was  waiting  to 
embark.  Here  a  calm  fell  upon  the  fleets,  and  they 
remained  motionless  for  a  whole  day.  But  about 
midnight  a  breeze  sprang  up  and  Lord  Howard  put 
into  efi'ect  a  scheme  he  had  devised  the  previous  day. 

16 


242  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

He  had  made  a  number  of  fire-ships  by  filling  eight 
vessels  with  pitch,  sulphur,  and  other  combustibles, 
and  these  were  now  set  on  fire  and  sent  down  the 
wind  against  the  Spanish  fleet. 

It  was  with  terror  that  the  Spaniards  beheld  the 
coming  of  these  flaming  ships.  They  remembered 
vividly  the  havoc  occasioned  by  fire-ships  at  the 
siege  of  Antwerp.  The  darkness  of  the  night  added 
to  their  fears,  and  panic  spread  from  end  to  end  of  the 
fleet.  All  discipline  vanished  ;  self-preservation  was 
the  sole  thought  of  each  crew.  Some  took  time  to 
weigh  their  anchors,  but  others,  in  wild  haste,  cut 
their  cables,  and  soon  the  ships  were  driving  blindly 
before  the  wind,  some  running  afoul  of  each  other 
and  being  completely  disabled  by  the  shock. 

When  day  dawned  Lord  Howard  saw  with  the 
highest  satisfaction  the  results  of  his  stratagem. 
The  Spanish  fleet  was  in  the  utmost  disorder,  its 
ships  widely  dispersed.  His  own  fleet  had  just  been 
strengthened,  and  he  at  once  made  an  impetuous 
attack  upon  the  scattered  Armada.  The  battle  be- 
gan at  four  in  the  morning  and  lasted  till  six  in  the 
evening,  the  Spaniards  fighting  with  great  bravery 
but  doing  little  execution.  Many  of  their  ships  were 
greatly  damaged,  and  ten  of  the  largest  were  sunk, 
run  aground,  or  captured.  The  principal  galeas,  or 
large  galley,  manned  with  three  hundred  galley 
slaves  and  having  on  board  four  hundred  soldiers, 
was  driven  ashore  near  Calais,  and  nearly  all  the 
Spaniards  were  killed  or  drowned  in  attempting  to 
reach  land.     The  rowers  were  set  at  liberty. 

The  Spanish  admiral  was  greatly  dejected  by  this 


THE   INVINCIBLE   ARMADA.  243 

series  of  misfortunes.  As  yet  the  English  had  lost 
but  one  small  ship  and  about  one  hundred  men, 
while  his  losses  had  been  so  severe  that  he  began  to 
dread  the  destruction  of  the  entire  fleet.  He  could 
not  without  great  danger  remain  where  he  was. 
His  ships  were  too  large  to  approach  nearer  to  the 
coast  of  Flanders.  Philip  had  declined  to  secure  a 
suitable  harbor  in  Zealand,  as  advised.  The  Armada 
was  a  great  and  clumsy  giant,  from  which  Lord 
Howard's  much  smaller  fleet  had  not  fled  in  terror, 
as  had  been  expected,  and  which  now  was  in  such  a 
condition  that  there  was  nothing  left  for  it  but  to 
try  and  return  to  Spain. 

But  the  getting  there  was  not  easy.  A  return 
through  the  Channel  was  hindered  by  the  wind, 
which  blew  strongly  from  the  south.  Nor  was  it  a 
wise  movement  in  the  face  of  the  English  fleet. 
The  admiral,  therefore,  determined  to  sail  northward 
and  make  the  circuit  of  the  British  islands. 

Unfortunately  for  Lord  Howard,  he  was  in  no 
condition  to  pursue.  By  the  neglect  of  the  authori- 
ties he  had  been  ill-supplied  with  gunpowder,  and 
was  forced  to  return  to  England  for  a  fresh  supply. 
But  for  this  deficiency  he  possibly  might,  in  the  dis- 
tressed condition  of  the  Spanish  fleet,  have  forced  a 
surrender  of  the  entire  Armada.  As  it  was,  his  re- 
turn proved  fortunate,  for  the  fleets  had  not  far  sep- 
arated when  a  frightful  tempest  began,  which  did 
considerable  harm  to  the  English  ships,  but  fell  with 
all  its  rage  on  the  exposed  Armada. 

The  ships,  drawn  up  in  close  ranks,  were  hurled 
fiercely  together,  many  being  sunk.     Driven  help- 


244  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

lessly  before  the  wind,  some  were  dashed  to  pieces 
on  the  rocks  of  Norway,  others  on  the  Scottish  coast 
or  the  shores  of  the  western  islands.  Some  went 
down  in  the  open  sea.  A  subsequent  storm,  which 
came  from  the  west,  drove  more  than  thirty  of  them 
on  the  Irish  coast.  Of  these,  some  got  off  in  a  shait- 
tered  state,  others  were  utterly  wrecked  and  their 
crews  murdered  on  reaching  the  shore.  The  admi- 
ral's ship,  which  had  kept  in  the  open  sea,  reached 
the  Spanish  coast  about  the  close  of  September. 

Even  after  reaching  harbor  in  Spain  troubles  pur- 
sued them,  two  of  the  galleons  taking  fire  and  burn- 
ing to  ashes.  Of  the  delicately  reared  noble  volun- 
teers, great  numbers  had  died  from  the  hardships 
of  the  voyage,  and  many  more  died  from  diseases 
contracted  at  sea.  The  total  loss  is  not  known ; 
some  say  that  thirty-two,  some  that  more  than 
eighty,  ships  were  lost,  while  the  loss  of  life  is  esti- 
mated at  from  ten  thousand  to  fifteen  thousand. 
Spain  felt  the  calamity  severely.  There  was  hardly 
a  family  of  rank  that  had  not  some  one  of  its  mem- 
bers to  mourn,  and  so  universal  was  the  grief  that 
Philip,  to  whose  ambition  the  disaster  was  due,  felt 
obliged  to  issue  an  edict  to  abridge  the  time  of  public 
mourning. 

In  England  and  Holland,  on  the  contrary,  the 
event  was  hailed  with  universal  joy.  Days  of  sol- 
emn thanksgiving  were  appointed,  and  Elizabeth, 
seated  in  a  triumphal  chariot  and  surrounded  by  her 
ministers  and  nobles,  went  for  this  purpose  to  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral,  the  concourse  bearing  a  great  num- 
ber of  flags  that  had  been  taken  from  the  enemy. 


THE  INVINCIBLE  ARMADA.  245 

The  joy  at  the  destruction  of  the  Armada  was  not 
confined  to  England  and  Holland.  All  Europe  joined 
in  it.  Philip's  ambition,  in  the  event  of  victory  over 
England,  might  have  led  him  to  attempt  the  sub- 
jection of  every  Protestant  state  in  Europe,  while 
Catholic  France,  which  he  afterwards  attempted  to 
conquer,  had  the  greatest  reason  to  dread  his  success. 

Thus  ended  the  most  threatening  enterprise  in  the 
religious  wars  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  to  Lord 
Howard  and  his  gallant  captains  England  and  Europe 
owe  the  deepest  debt  of  gratitude,  for  the  success  of 
the  Armada  might  have  proved  a  calamity  whose 
effects  would  have  been  felt  to  the  present  day. 


THE    CAUSES     OF    SPAIN'S    DE- 
CADENCE, 

The  golden  age  of  Spain  began  in  1492,  in  which 
year  the  conquest  of  Granada  extinguished  the 
Arab  dominion,  and  the  discovery  of  America  by 
Columbus  opened  a  new  world  to  the  enterprise  of 
the  Spanish  cavaliers.  It  continued  during  the 
reigns  of  Charles  I.  and  Philip  II.,  extending  over  a 
period  of  about  a  century,  during  which  Spain  was 
the  leading  power  in  Europe,  and  occupied  the  fore- 
most position  in  the  civilized  world.  In  Europe  its 
possessions  included  the  Netherlands  and  important 
regions  in  Italy,  while  its  king,  Charles  I.,  ruled  as 
Charles  Y.  over  the  German  empire,  possessing  a 
dominion  in  Europe  only  surpassed  by  that  of  Charle- 
magne. Under  Philip  II.  Portugal  became  a  part  of 
the  Spanish  realm,  and  with  it  its  colony  of  Brazil, 
so  that  Spain  was  the  unquestioned  owner  of  the 
whole  continent  of  South  America,  while  much  of 
IsTorth  America  lay  under  its  flag. 

Wealth  flowed  into  the  coff'ers  of  this  broad  king- 
dom in  steady  streams,  the  riches  of  America  over- 
flowing its  treasury ;  its  fleet  was  the  greatest,  its 
army  the  best  trained  and  most  irresistible  in  Eu- 
rope ;  it  stood  as  the  bulwark  against  that  mighty 
Ottoman  power  before  which  the  other  nations 
246 


THE   CAUSES   OF   SPAIN's   DECADENCE.  247 

trembled,  and  checked  its  career  of  victory  at  Le- 
panto ;  in  short,  as  above  said,  it  was  for  a  brief 
period  the  leading  power  in  Europe,  and  appeared  to 
have  in  it  the  promise  of  a  glorious  career. 

But  though  the  tree  was  so  flourishing  at  its  sum- 
mit, there  was  a  canker  at  its  root,  the  eating  bane 
of  superstition  and  bigotry,  before  whose  insidious 
attacks  the  far-spreading  realm  was  soon  to  shrink 
and  decay,  and  in  time  to  decline  into  a  position  of 
insignificance  that  would  have  seemed  incredible  in 
the  sixteenth  century.  Spain  stood  as  the  right 
hand  of  the  Church  of  Eome,  the  bulwark  against 
the  growing  flood  of  reform,  and  in  her  strenuous 
efibrt  to  suppress  free  thought,  to  make  all  minds 
move  in  the  same  channel,  all  men  think  alike  on 
religious  subjects,  she  at  once  utterly  failed  in  her 
purpose  and  ruined  herself  in  the  attempt. 

Two  methods  were  adopted  in  this  ruinous  effort, 
the  one  that  of  exile  of  the  infidel  and  heretic,  the 
other  that  of  torture  and  execution.  These  were 
extraordinary  methods  for  the  propagation  of  re- 
ligious faith,  but  by  them  Spain  succeeded  in  sup- 
pressing all  visible  heresy  within  her  confines,  and, 
in  her  extirpation  of  free  thought,  destroyed  her- 
self. From  being  the  strongest  and  most  enter- 
prising nation  of  Europe,  she  sank  into  the  position 
of  one  of  the  weakest  and  the  least  progressive  of 
European  kingdoms,  her  population  decreasing 
within  a  century  or  two  to  nearly  one-half,  while 
the  demon  of  dulness  and  stolid  conservatism  spread 
its  blasting  wings  over  the  entire  land. 

The  first  stage  in  this  crusade  of  fanaticism  was 


248  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

the  expulsion  of  the  Jews,  a  people  whose  enter- 
prise, progress  in  science  and  the  arts,  and  genius 
for  business  had  been  of  immense  value  to  Spain. 
Under  the  Goths  the  Hebrew  race  suffered  pitiless 
persecution,  from  which  they  were  relieved  while 
the  Arabs  ruled  in  Spain.  Favored  by  the  toler- 
ant caliphs,  the  Jews  became  active  agents  in  the 
development  of  civilization.  But  the  protection 
they  enjoyed  under  the  Moslems  was  lost  under  the 
Christians,  who  had  no  sooner  reconquered  Spain 
than  their  ignorant  fanaticism  led  them  to  a  violent 
persecution  of  their  Hebrew  subjects,  who  became 
objects  of  scorn  and  hatred,  and  in  some  places  were 
exposed  to  pitiless  robbery  and  indiscriminate  mas- 
sacre. 

Many  of  the  unfortunate  Jews,  seeking  to  escape 
persecution,  embraced  Christianity.  But  their  con- 
version was  doubted,  they  were  subjected  to  constant 
espionage,  and  the  least  suspicion  of  indulging  in 
their  old  worship  exposed  them  to  the  dangerous 
charge  of  heresy,  a  word  of  frightful  omen  in  Spain. 
It  was  to  punish  these  delinquent  Jews  that  in  1480 
the  Inquisition  was  introduced,  and  at  once  began  its 
frightful  work,  no  less  than  two  thousand  "  heretics" 
being  burned  alive  in  1481,  while  seventeen  thou- 
sand were  "  reconciled,"  a  word  of  mild  meaning  else- 
where, but  which  in  Spain  signified  torture,  confisca- 
tion of  property,  loss  of  citizenship,  and  frequently 
imprisonment  for  life  in  the  dungeons  of  the  Inqui- 
sition. Such  was  the  frightful  penalty  for  daring 
to  think  otherwise  on  religious  subjects  than  the 
Church  of  Eome  said  men  should  and  must  think. 


THE   CAUSES   OF   SPAIN's   DECADENCE.  249 

The  year  1492,  in  which  Spain  gained  glory  by 
the  conquest  of  Granada  and  the  discovery  of 
America,  brought  her  deep  dishonor  through  an  act 
of  barbarous  cruelty,  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews. 
The  edict  for  this  was  signed  by  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella at  Granada,  March  30,  1492,  and  decreed  that 
all  unbaptized  Jews,  without  regard  to  sex,  age,  or 
condition,  should  leave  Spain  before  the  end  of  the 
next  July,  and  never  return  thither  under  penalty 
of  death  and  confiscation  of  property.  Every  Span- 
iard was  forbidden  to  give  aid  in  any  form  to  a  Jew 
after  the  date  named.  The  Jews  might  sell  their 
property  and  carry  the  proceeds  with  them  in  bills 
of  exchange  or  merchandise,  but  not  in  gold  or 
silver. 

This  edict  came  like  a  thunderbolt  to  the  Israel- 
ites. At  a  tyrant's  word  they  must  go  forth  as  exiles 
from  the  land  in  which  they  and  their  forefathers 
had  dwelt  for  ages,  break  all  their  old  ties  of  habit 
and  association,  and  be  cast  out  helpless  and  defence- 
less, marked  with  a  brand  of  infamy,  among  nations 
who  held  them  in  hatred  and  contempt. 

Under  the  unjust  terms  of  the  edict  they  were 
forced  to  abandon  most  of  the  property  which  they 
had  spent  their  lives  in  gaining.  It  was  impossible 
to  sell  their  eifects  in  the  brief  time  given,  in  a  mar- 
ket glutted  with  similar  commodities,  for  more  than 
a  tithe  of  their  value.  As  a  result  their  hard-won 
wealth  was  frightfully  sacrificed.  One  chronicler 
relates  that  he  saw  a  house  exchanged  for  an  ass 
and  a  vineyard  for  a  suit  of  clothes.  In  Aragon  the 
property  of  the  Jews  was  confiscated  for  the  benefit 


250  HISTOEICAL   TALES. 

of  their  creditors,  with  little  regard  to  its  value. 
As  for  the  bills  of  exchange  which  they  were  to  take 
instead  of  gold  and  silver,  it  was  impossible  to  ob- 
tain them  to  the  amount  required  in  that  age  of  lim- 
ited commerce,  and  here  again  they  were  mercilessly 
robbed. 

The  migration  was  one  of  the  most  pitiable  known 
in  history.  As  the  time  fixed  for  their  departure 
approached  the  roads  of  the  country  swarmed  with 
emigrants,  young  and  old,  strong  and  feeble,  sick 
and  well,  some  on  horses  or  mules,  but  the  great 
multitude  on  foot.  The  largest  division,  some  eighty 
thousand  in  number,  passed  through  Portugal,  whose 
monarch  taxed  them  for  a  free  passage  through  his 
dominions,  but,  wiser  than  Ferdinand,  permitted 
certain  skilful  artisans  among  them  to  settle  in  his 
kingdom. 

Those  who  reached  Africa  and  marched  towards 
Fez,  where  many  of  their  race  resided,  were  attacked 
by  the  desert  tribes,  robbed,  slain,  and  treated  with 
the  most  shameful  barbarity.  Many  of  them,  half- 
dead  with  famine  and  in  utter  despair,  returned 
to  the  coast,  where  they  consented  to  be  baptized 
with  the  hope  that  they  might  be  permitted  to  re- 
turn to  their  native  land. 

Those  who  sought  Italy  contracted  an  infectious 
disease  in  the  crowded  and  filthy  vessels  which  they 
were  obliged  to  take ;  a  disorder  so  malignant  that 
it  carried  off  twenty  thousand  of  the  people  of  Naples 
during  the  year,  and  spread  far  over  the  remainder 
of  Italy.  As  for  the  Jews,  hosts  of  them  perished 
of  hunger  and  disease,  and  of  the  whole  number  ex- 


THE   CAUSES   OF   SPAIn's   DECADENCE.  251 

pelled,  estimated  at  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand, 
only  a  miserable  fragment  found  homes  at  length 
in  foreign  lands,  some  seeking  Turkey,  others  gain- 
ing refuge  and  protection  in  France  and  England. 
As  for  the  effect  of  the  migration  on  Spain  it  must 
suffice  here  to  quote  the  remark  of  a  monarch  of 
that  day:  "Do  they  call  this  Ferdinand  a  politic 
prince,  who  can  thus  impoverish  his  own  kingdom 
and  enrich  ours  ?" 

The  Jews  of  Spain  thus  disposed  of,  a  similar 
policy  was  adopted  towards  the  Moors.  The  treaty 
made  with  them  at  the  time  of  the  surrender  of 
Granada  was  not  kept.  Ximenes  and  other  bigoted 
priests  attempted  to  convert  them  by  force,  and  drove 
them  into  insurrection.  This  was  suppressed,  and 
then  punishment  began.  So  rigid  was  the  inquiry 
that  it  seemed  as  if  all  the  people  of  Granada  would 
be  condemned  as  guilty,  and  in  mortal  dread  many 
of  them  made  peace  by  embracing  Christianity,  while 
others  sold  their  estates  and  migrated  to  Barbary. 
In  the  end,  all  who  remained  escaped  persecution 
only  by  consenting  to  be  baptized,  the  total  number 
of  converts  being  estimated  at  fifty  thousand.  The 
name  of  Moors,  which  had  superseded  that  of  Arabs, 
was  now  changed  to  that  of  Moriscos,  by  which 
these  unfortunate  people  were  afterwards  known. 

The  ill-faith  shown  to  the  Moors  of  the  plain  gave 
rise  to  an  insurrection  in  the  mountains,  in  which 
the  Spaniards  suffered  a  severe  defeat.  The  insur- 
gents, however,  were  soon  subdued,  and  most  of 
them,  to  prevent  being  driven  from  their  homes, 
professed  the  Christian  faith.     By  the  free  use  of 


252  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

torture  and  the  sword  the  kings  of  Spain  had  suc- 
ceeded in  adding  largely  to  their  Christian  sub- 
jects. 

The  Moriscos  became  the  most  skilful  and  indus- 
trious agriculturists  of  Spain,  but  the  bigoted  mon- 
archs,  instigated  by  fanatical  priests,  would  not  let 
them  alone.  Irritating  edicts  were  from  time  to 
time  issued.  In  1560  the  Moriscos  were  forbidden 
to  employ  African  slaves,  for  fear  that  they  might 
make  infidels  of  them.  This  was  a  severe  annoy- 
ance, for  the  wealthy  farmers  depended  on  the  labor 
of  these  slaves.  In  1563  they  were  forbidden  to 
possess  arms  except  under  license.  In  1566  still 
more  oppressive  edicts  were  passed.  They  were  no 
longer  to  use  the  Arabic  language  or  wear  the  Moor- 
ish dress,  and  the  women  were  required  to  go  about 
with  their  faces  unveiled, — a  scandalous  thing  among 
Mohammedans.  Their  weddings  were  to  be  con- 
ducted in  public,  after  the  Christian  forms,  their  na- 
tional songs  and  dances  were  interdicted,  and  they 
were  even  forbidden  to  indulge  in  warm  baths, 
bathing  being  a  custom  of  which  the  Spaniard  of 
that  day  appears  to  have  disapproved. 

The  result  of  these  oppressive  edicts  was  a  violent 
and  dangerous  insurrection,  which  involved  nearly 
all  the  Moriscos  of  Spain,  and  continued  for  more 
than  two  years,  requiring  all  the  power  of  Spain  for 
its  suppression.  Don  John  of  Austria,  the  victor  at 
IJepanto,  led  the  Spanish  troops,  but  he  had  a  difii- 
cult  task,  the  Moriscos,  sheltered  in  their  mountain 
fastnesses,  making  a  desperate  and  protracted  re- 
sistance, and  showing  a  warlike   energy  equal  to 


THE   CAUSES  OP   SPAIN'S  DECADENCE.  253 

that  which  had  been  displayed  in  the  defence  of 
Granada. 

The  end  of  the  war  was  followed  by  a  decree  from 
Philip  II.  that  all  the  Moors  of  Granada  should  be 
removed  into  the  interior  of  the  country,  their  lands 
and  houses  beiug  forfeited,  and  nothing  left  them 
but  their  personal  effects.  This  act  of  confiscation 
was  followed  by  their  reduction  to  a  state  of  serfdom 
in  their  new  homes,  no  one  being  permitted  to  change 
his  abode  without  permission,  under  a  very  severe 
penalty.  If  found  within  ten  leagues  of  Granada 
they  were  condemned,  if  between  the  ages  of  ten 
and  seventeen,  to  the  galleys  for  life ;  if  older,  to  the 
punishment  of  death. 

The  dispersal  of  the  Moriscos  of  Granada,  while 
cruel  to  them,  proved  of  the  greatest  benefit  to 
Spain,  Wherever  they  went  the  effects  of  their 
superior  skill  and  industry  were  soon  manifested. 
They  were  skilled  not  only  in  husbandry,  but  in  the 
mechanic  arts,  and  their  industry  gave  a  new  aspect 
of  prosperity  to  the  provinces  to  which  they  were 
banished,  while  the  valleys  and  hill-sides  of  Granada, 
which  had  flourished  under  their  cultivation,  sank 
into  barrenness  under  the  unskilful  hands  of  their 
successors. 

Enough  had  not  yet  been  done  to  satiate  Spanish 
bigotry.  The  Moriscos  were  not  Spaniards,  and 
could  not  easily  become  so  while  deprived  of  all 
civil  rights.  There  was  a  suspicion  that  at  heart 
they  might  still  be  Moslems.  This  was  a  possibility 
not  to  be  endured  in  orthodox  Spain.  Under  Philip 
III.,  a  king  as  intolerant  as  his  father,  and,  unlike 


254  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

him,  timid  and  incapable,  the  final  act  came.  Under 
priestly  influence  he  was  induced  to  sign  an  edict 
for  the  expulsion  of  the  Moriscos,  and  this  quiet 
and  industrious  people,  a  million  in  number,  were  in 
1610,  like  the  Jews  before  them,  forced  to  leave  their 
homes  in  Spain. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  the  story  of  the 
suffering  which  necessarily  followed  so  barbarous  an 
act.  "What  has  been  said  of  the  circumstances  at- 
tending the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  will  suffice. 
That  of  the  Moriscos  was  not  so  inhuman  in  its 
consequences,  but  it  was  serious  enough.  Fortu- 
nately, in  view  of  the  intense  impolicy  and  deep  in- 
tolerance indicated  in  the  act,  its  evil  effects  reacted 
upon  its  advocates.  To  the  Moriscos  the  suffering 
was  personal ;  to  Spain  it  was  national.  As  France 
half-ruined  herself  by  expelling  the  Huguenots,  the 
most  industrious  of  her  population,  Spain  did  the 
same  in  expelling  the  Moriscos,  to  whose  skill  and 
industry  she  owed  so  much  of  her  prosperity.  So  it 
ever  must  be  when  bigotry  is  allowed  to  control  the 
policy  of  states.  France  recovered  from  the  evil 
effects  of  her  mad  act.  Spain  never  did.  The  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Moriscos  was  one  of  the  most  prom- 
inent causes  of  her  decline,  and  no  indications  of  a 
recovery  have  yet  been  shown. 

The  expulsion  of  the  Jews  and  Moriscos  was  not 
sufficient  to  satisfy  the  intolerant  spirit  of  Spain. 
Heresy  had  made  its  way  even  into  the  minds  of 
Spaniards.  Sons  of  the  Church  themselves  had 
begun  to  think  in  other  lines  than  those  laid  down 
for  them  by  the  priestly  guardians  of  their  minds. 


I 


THE   CAUSES   OF   SPAIN'S   DECADENCE.  255 


Protestant  books  were  introduced  into  the  ever- 
faithful  land,  and  a  considerable  number  of  converts 
to  Protestantism  were  made. 

Upon  these  heretics  the  Inquisition  descended  with 
all  its  frightful  force.  Philip,  in  a  monstrous  edict, 
condemned  all  to  be  burned  alive  who  bought,  sold, 
or  read  books  prohibited  by  the  Church.  The  re- 
sult was  terrible.  The  land  was  filled  with  spies. 
Arrests  were  made  on  all  sides.  The  instruments 
of  torture  were  kept  busy.  In  all  the  principal 
cities  of  Spain  the  monstrous  spectacle  of  the  auto- 
de-fe  was  to  be  seen,  multitudes  being  burned  at 
the  stake  for  having  dared  to  let  what  the  priests 
deemed  the  venom  of  free  thought  enter  their  minds. 

The  total  eifect  of  this  horrible  system  of  per- 
secution we  can  only  epitomize.  Thousands  were 
burned  at  the  stake,  thousands  imprisoned  for  life 
after  terrible  torture,  thousands  robbed  of  their 
property,  and  their  children  condemned  to  poverty 
and  opprobrium ;  and  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  as  the 
popes  of  that  day  estimated  it,  was  established  in 
Spain. 

The  bigoted  kings  and  fanatical  ecclesiastics  of 
Spain  had  succeeded.  Heresy  was  blotted  out  from 
Spain, — and  Spain  was  blotted  out  from  the  ranks 
of  enlightened  nations.  Preedom  of  thought  was  at 
an  end.  The  mind  of  the  Spaniard  was  put  in  fet- 
ters. Spain,  under  the  sombre  shadow  of  the  In- 
quisition, was  shut  out  from  the  light  which  was 
breaking  over  the  remainder  of  Europe.  Literature 
moved  in  narrow  channels,  philosophy  was  checked, 
the  domain  of  science  was  closed,  progress  was  at  an 


256  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

end.  Spain  stood  still  while  the  rest  of  the  world 
was  sweeping  onward ;  and  she  stands  still  to-day, 
her  mind  in  the  fifteenth  century.  The  decadence 
of  Spain  is  due  solely  to  religious  bigotry,  which 
manifested  itself  in  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  and  the 
Moriscos,  the  fires  of  the  Inquisition,  and  that  sup- 
pression of  free  thought  which,  wherever  shown,  is 
a  fatal  barrier  to  the  progress  of  mankind. 


THE  LAST   OF  A   ROYAL   RACE. 


The  rebellion  of  the  Moriscos,  due  to  the  oppres- 
sive edicts  of  Philip  II.,  as  stated  in  the  preceding 
tale,  was  marked  by  numerous  interesting  events. 
Some  of  these  are  worth  giving  in  illustration  of  the 
final  struggle  of  the  Moors  in  Spain.  The  insur- 
gents failed  in  their  first  effort,  that  of  seizing  the 
city  of  Granada,  still  filled  with  their  fellow-country- 
men, and  restoring  as  far  as  possible  their  old  king- 
dom; and  they  afterwards  confined  themselves  to 
the  difficult  passes  and  mountain  fastnesses  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  where  they  presented  a  bold  front  to 
the  power  of  Spain. 

Having  proclaimed  their  independence,  and  cast 
off  all  allegiance  to  the  crown  of  Spain,  their  first 
step  was  to  select  a  new  monarch  of  their  own  race. 
The  man  selected  for  this  purpose  was  of  royal  blood, 
being  descended  in  a  direct  line  from  the  ancient 
family  of  the  Omeyades,  caliphs  of  Damascus,  and 
for  nearly  four  centuries  rulers  in  Spain.  This  man, 
who  bore  the  Castihan  name  of  Don  Fernando  de 
Yalor,  but  was  known  by  the  Moors  as  Aben- 
Humeya,  was  at  that  time  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
comely  in  person  and  engaging  in  manners,  and  of  a 
deportment  worthy  of  the  princely  line  from  which 
he  had  descended.  A  man  of  courage  and  energy, 
he  escaped  from  Granada  and  took  refuge  in  the 

17  257 


258  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

mountains,  where  he  began  a  war  to  the  knife 
against  Spain. 

The  early  events  of  the  war  were  unfavorable  to 
the  Moors.  Their  strongholds  were  invaded  by  a 
powerful  Spanish  force  under  the  Marquis  of  Mon- 
dejar,  and  their  forces  soon  put  to  flight.  Aben- 
Humeya  was  so  hotly  pursued  that  he  was  forced 
to  spring  from  his  horse,  cut  the  hamstrings  of  the 
animal  to  render  it  useless  to  his  pursuers,  and  seek 
refuge  in  the  depths  of  the  sierras,  where  dozens 
of  hiding-places  unknown  to  his  pursuers  could  be 
found. 

The  insurrection  was  now  in  a  desperate  stage. 
Mondejar  was  driving  the  rebels  in  arms  in  terror 
before  him ;  tower  and  town  fell  in  succession  into 
his  hands;  everywhere  his  arms  were  victorious, 
and  only  one  thing  was  wanting  to  bring  all  opposi- 
tion to  an  end, — the  capture  of  Aben-Humeya,  the 
"little  king"  of  the  Alpujarras.  This  crownless 
monarch  was  known  to  be  wandering  with  a  few 
followers  in  the  wilds  of  the  mountains ;  but  while 
he  lived  the  insurrection  might  at  any  moment  blaze 
out  again,  and  detachments  of  soldiers  were  sent  to 
pursue  him  through  the  sierras. 

The  captain  of  one  of  these  parties  learned  from 
a  traitor  that  the  fugitive  prince  remained  hidden 
in  the  mountains  only  during  the  day,  finding  shelter 
at  night  in  the  house  of  a  kinsman,  Aben-Aboo,  on 
the  skirts  of  the  sierras.  Learning  the  situation  of 
this  mansion,  the  Spanish  captain  led  his  men  with 
the  greatest  secrecy  towards  it.  Travelling  by  night, 
they  reached  the  vicinity  of  the  dwelling  under  cover 


THE  LAST  OF  A  ROYAL  RACE.         259 

of  the  darkness.  In  a  minute  more  the  house  would 
have  been  surrounded  and  its  inmates  secured ;  but 
at  this  critical  moment  the  arquebuse  of  one  of  the 
Spaniards  was  accidentally  discharged,  the  report 
echoing  loudly  among  the  hills  and  warning  the 
lightly  sleeping  inmates  of  their  danger. 

One  of  them,  El  Zaguer,  the  uncle  of  Aben- 
Humeya,  at  once  sprang  up  and  leaped  from  the 
window  of  his  room,  making  his  way  with  all  haste 
to  the  mountains.  His  nephew  was  not  so  fortunate. 
Running  to  his  window,  in  the  front  of  the  house,  ho 
saw  the  ground  occupied  by  troops.  He  hastily 
sought  another  window,  but  his  foes  were  there  be- 
fore him.  Bewildered  and  distressed,  he  knew  not 
where  to  turn.  The  house  was  surrounded;  the 
Spaniards  were  thundering  on  the  door  for  admit- 
tance ;  he  was  like  a  wolf  caught  in  its  lair,  and  with 
as  little  mercy  to  hope  from  his  captors. 

By  good  fortune  the  door  was  well  secured.  One 
possible  chance  for  safety  occurred  to  the  hunted 
prince.  Hastening  down-stairs,  he  stood  behind  the 
portal  and  noiselessly  drew  its  bolts.  The  Spaniards, 
finding  the  door  give  way,  and  supposing  that  it  had 
yielded  to  their  blows,  rushed  hastily  in  and  hurriec" 
through  the  house  in  search  of  the  fugitive  who  was 
hidden  behind  the  door.  The  instant  they  had  all 
passed  he  slipped  out,  and,  concealed  by  the  darkness 
outside,  hastened  away,  soon  finding  a  secure  refuge 
in  the  mountains. 

Aben-Aboo  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  assail- 
lants,  who  vainly  questioned  him  as  to  the  haunts 
of  his  kinsmen.     On  his  refusal  to  answer  they  em- 


260  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

ployed  torture,  but  with  no  better  effect.  "  I  may 
die,"  he  courageously  said,  "  but  my  friends  will  live." 
So  severe  and  cruel  was  their  treatment,  that  in  the 
end  they  left  him  for  dead,  returning  to  camp  with 
the  other  prisoners  they  had  taken.  As  it  proved, 
however,  the  heroic  Aben-Aboo  did  not  die,  but  lived 
to  play  a  leading  part  in  the  war. 

With  kindly  treatment  of  the  Moriscos  he  would 
probably  have  given  no  more  trouble,  but  the  Span- 
ish proved  utterly  merciless,  their  soldiers  raging 
through  the  mountains,  and  committing  the  foulest 
acts  of  outrage  and  rapine.  In  Granada  a  frightful 
deed  was  committed.  A  large  number  of  the  leading 
Moriscos,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  all,  had  been 
seized  and  imprisoned,  being  held  as  hostages  for  the 
good  behavior  of  their  friends.  Here,  on  a  night  in 
March,  the  prison  was  entered  by  a  body  of  Spaniards, 
who  assailed  the  unfortunate  captives,  arms  in  hand, 
and  began  an  indiscriminate  massacre.  The  prison- 
ers seizing  what  means  of  defence  they  could  find, 
fought  desperately  for  their  lives,  and  for  two  hours 
the  unequal  combat  continued,  not  ending  while  a 
Morisco  remained  alive. 

This  frightful  affair,  hardly  surpassed  by  the  similar 
massacre  of  prisoners  during  the  French  revolution, 
and  here  sanctioned  by  the  government,  had  its  natu- 
ral effect.  The  Moriscos  were  soon  in  arms  again, 
Aben-Humeya  at  their  head,  and  the  war  blazed 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  mountains. 
Even  from  Barbary  came  a  considerable  body  of 
Moors,  who  entered  the  service  of  the  Morisco  chief. 
Fierce  and  intrepid,  trained  to  the  military  career, 


THE  LAST  OF  A  ROYAL  RACE.        261 

and  accustomed  to  a  life  of  wild  adventure,  these 
were  a  most  valuable  reinforcement  to  Aben-Hu- 
meya's  forces,  and  enabled  him  to  carry  on  a  guerilla 
warfare  which  proved  highly  vexatious  to  the  troops 
of  Spain.  He  made  forays  from  the  mountains  into 
the  plain,  penetrating  into  the  vega  and  boldly 
venturing  even  to  the  walls  of  Granada.  The  insur- 
rection spread  far  and  wide  through  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  and  the  Spanish  army,  now  led  by  Don  John 
of  Austria,  the  king's  brother,  found  itself  confronted 
by  a  most  serious  task. 

The  weak  point  in  the  organization  of  the  Mo- 
riscos  lay  in  the  character  of  their  king.  Aben- 
Humeya,  at  first  popular,  soon  displayed  traits  of 
character  which  lost  him  the  support  of  his  followers. 
Surrounded  by  a  strong  body-guard,  he  led  a  volup- 
tuous life,  and  struck  down  without  mercy  those 
whom  he  feared,  no  less  than  three  hundred  and  fifty 
persons  falling  victims  to  his  jealousy  or  revenge. 
His  cruelty  and  injustice  at  length  led  to  a  plot  for 
his  death,  and  his  brief  reign  ended  in  assassination, 
his  kinsman,  Aben-Aboo,  being  chosen  as  his  suc- 
cessor. 

The  new  king  was  a  very  different  man  from  his 
slain  predecessor.  He  was  much  the  older  of  the 
two,  a  man  of  high  integrity  and  great  decorum  of 
character.  While  lacking  the  dash  and  love  of  ad- 
venture of  Aben-Humeya,  he  had  superior  judg- 
ment in  military  affairs,  and  full  courage  in  carrying 
out  his  plans.  His  election  was  confirmed  from 
Algiers,  a  large  quantity  of  arms  and  ammunition 
was  imported  from  Barbary,  reinforcements  crossed 


262  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

the  Mediterranean,  and  the  new  king  began  his  reign 
under  excellent  auspices,  his  first  movement  being 
against  Orgiba,  a  fortified  place  on  the  road  to 
Granada,  which  he  invested  in  October  with  an  army 
of  ten  thousand  men. 

The  capture  of  this  place,  which  soon  followed, 
roused  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Moriscos  to  the  highest 
pitch.  From  all  sides  the  warlike  peasantry  flocked 
to  the  standard  of  their  able  chief,  and  a  war  began 
resembling  that  of  a  century  before,  when  the  forces 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were  invading  the  King- 
dom of  Granada.  From  peak  to  peak  of  the  sierras 
beacon-fires  flashed  their  signals,  calling  the  bold 
mountaineers  to  forays  on  the  lands  of  the  enemy. 
Pouring  suddenly  down  on  the  lower  levels,  the 
daring  marauders  swept  away  in  triumph  to  the 
mountains  the  flocks  and  herds  of  their  Christian 
foes.  The  vega  of  Granada  became,  as  in  ancient 
times,  the  battle-ground  of  Moorish  and  Christian 
cavaliers,  the  latter  having  generally  the  advantage, 
though  occasionally  the  insurgent  bands  would  break 
into  the  suburbs,  or  even  the  city  of  Granada,  filling 
its  people  with  consternation,  and  causing  the  great 
bell  of  the  Alhambra  to  peal  out  its  tocsin  of  alarm 
and  call  the  Spanish  chivalry  in  haste  to  the  fray. 

We  cannot  describe,  even  in  epitome,  the  varied 
course  of  this  sanguinary  war.  As  might  well  have 
been  expected,  the  greater  force  of  the  Spaniards 
gradually  prevailed,  and  the  autumn  of  1570  found 
the  insurgents  almost  everywhere  subdued.  Only 
Aben-Aboo,  the  "  little  king,"  remained  in  arms,  a 
force  of  four  hundred  men  being  all  that  were  left 


I 


THE  LAST  OF  A  HOYAL  RACE.        263 


to  him  of  his  recent  army.  But  these  were  men 
warmly  devoted  to  him,  and  until  the  spring  of  1571 
every  effort  for  his  capture  proved  in  vain.  Hiding 
in  mountain  caves  and  in  inaccessible  districts,  he 
defied  pursuit,  and  in  a  measure  kept  alive  the  flame 
of  rebellion. 

Treason  at  length  brought  his  career  to  an  end. 
One  of  the  few  insurgent  prisoners  who  escaped 
death  at  the  hands  of  the  Spanish  executioners  re- 
vealed the  hiding-place  of  the  fugitive  king,  and 
named  the  two  persons  on  whom  Aben-Aboo  most 
relied,  his  secretary,  Abou  Amer,  and  a  Moorish  cap- 
tain named  El  Senix. 

An  effort  was  made  to  win  over  the  secretary  by 
one  who  had  formerly  known  him,  a  letter  being 
sent  him  which  roused  him  to  intense  indignation. 
El  Senix,  however,  becoming  aware  of  its  contents, 
and  having  a  private  grudge  against  his  master,  sent 
word  by  the  messenger  that  he  would  undertake,  for 
a  suitable  recompense,  to  betray  him  to  the  Chris- 
tians. 

An  interview  soon  after  took  place  between  the 
Moor  and  Barredo,  the  Spanish  agent,  some  inti- 
mation of  which  came  to  the  ears  of  Aben-Aboo. 
The  king  at  once  sought  a  cavern  in  the  neighbor- 
hood where  El  Senix  was  secreted,  and,  leaving  his 
followers  outside,  imprudently  entered  alone.  He 
found  El  Senix  surrounded  by  several  of  his  friends, 
and  sternly  demanded  of  him  the  purpose  of  his 
interview  with  Barredo.  Senix,  confused  by  the 
accusation,  faltered  out  that  he  had  simply  been 
seeking  to  obtain  an  amnesty  for  him.      Aben-Aboo 


2fe4  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

listened  with  a  face  of  scorn,  and,  turning  on  his 
heel  with  the  word  ''  treachery,"  walked  back  to  the 
mouth  of  the  cave. 

Unluckily,  his  men,  with  the  exception  of  two 
guards  stationed  at  the  entrance,  had  left  the  spot  to 
visit  some  near-by  friends.  Senix,  perceiving  that 
his  own  life  was  in  danger,  and  that  this  was  his 
only  opportunity  for  safety,  fell  with  his  followers 
on  the  guards,  one  of  whom  was  killed  and  the  other 
put  to  flight.  Then  an  attack  was  made  on  Aben- 
Aboo.  The  latter  defended  himself  desperately, 
but  the  odds  were  too  great,  and  the  dastardly  El 
Senix  ended  the  struggle  by  felling  him  with  the 
but-end  of  his  musket,  when  he  was  quickly  de- 
spatched. 

Thus  died  the  last  of  the  Omeyades,  the  famous 
dynasty  of  Arabian  caliphs  founded  in  660,  and  es- 
tablished in  Spain  in  756.  Aben-Aboo,  the  last  of 
this  royal  race,  was  given  in  death  a  triumphal  en- 
trance to  Granada,  as  if  he  were  one  whom  the  Span- 
iards delighted  to  honor.  The  corpse  was  set  astride 
on  a  mule,  being  supported  by  a  wooden  frame, 
which  lay  hidden  beneath  flowing  robes.  On  one 
side  rode  Barredo ;  on  the  other  the  murderer  El 
Senix  bore  the  scimitar  and  arquebuse  of  the  dead 
prince.  The  kinsmen  and  friends  of  the  Morisco 
chief  rode  in  his  train,  and  after  them  came  a  regi- 
ment of  infantry  and  a  troop  of  horse. 

As  the  procession  moved  along  the  street  of  Za- 
catin  salvos  of  musketry  saluted  it,  peals  of  artillery 
roared  from  the  towers  of  the  Alhambra,  and  the 
multitude  thronged  to  gaze  with  silent  curiosity  on 


THE  LAST  01*  A  ROYAL  EACE.        265 

the  ghastly  face.  Thus  the  cavalcade  proceeded 
until  the  great  square  of  Yivarambla  was  reached. 
Here  were  assembled  the  principal  cavaliers  and 
magistrates  of  the  city,  and  here  El  Senix  dis- 
mounted and  delivered  to  Deza,  the  president  of  the 
tribunal  before  which  were  tried  the  insurgent  cap- 
tives, the  arms  of  the  murdered  prince. 

And  now  this  semblance  of  respect  to  a  brave 
enemy  was  followed  by  a  scene  of  barbarity  worthy 
of  the  Spain  of  that  day.  The  ceremony  of  a 
public  execution  was  gone  through  with,  the  head 
of  the  corpse  being  struck  off,  after  which  the  body 
was  given  to  the  boys  of  Granada,  who  dragged 
it  through  the  streets  and  exposed  it  to  every  in- 
dignity, finally  committing  it  to  the  flames.  The 
head,  enclosed  in  a  cage,  was  set  over  the  gate  that 
faced  towards  the  Alpujarras.  There  it  remained 
for  a  year,  seeming  to  gaze  towards  the  hills  which 
the  Morisco  chief  had  loved  so  well,  and  which  had 
witnessed  his  brief  and  disastrous  reign. 

Such  was  the  fate  of  Aben-Aboo,  the  last  of  a  line 
of  great  monarchs,  and  one  of  the  best  of  them  all ; 
a  man  of  lofty  spirit,  temperate  appetites,  and  cour- 
ageous endurance,  who,  had  he  lived  in  more  pros- 
perous days,  might  have  ruled  in  the  royal  halls  of 
Cordova  with  a  renown  equal  to  that  of  the  most 
famous  caliph  of  his  race. 


HENRY  MORGAN  AND  THE  BUO 
CANEERS. 


As  the  seventeenth  century  passed  on,  Spain,  under 
the  influence  of  reh'gious  intolerance  and  bad  gov- 
ernment, grew  weak,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  Its 
prominent  place  in  Europe  was  lost.  Its  vast  colo- 
nial provinces  in  America  were  scenes  of  persecution 
and  anarchy.  There  the  fortresses  were  allowed  to 
decay,  the  soldiers,  half-clothed  and  unpaid,  to  be- 
come beggars  or  bandits,  the  treasures  to  be  pilfered, 
and  commerce  to  become  a  system  of  fraud ;  while 
the  colonists  were  driven  to  detest  their  mother  land. 
This  weakness  was  followed  by  dire  consequences. 
Bands  of  outcasts  from  various  nations,  who  had 
settled  on  Spanish  territory  in  the  West  Indies,  at 
first  to  forage  on  the  cattle  of  Hispaniola,  organized 
into  pirate  crews,  and,  under  the  name  of  buccaneers, 
became  frightful  scourges  of  the  commerce  of  Spain. 

These  wretches,  mainly  French,  English,  and 
Dutch,  deserters  and  outlaws,  the  scum  of  their  na- 
tions, made  the  rich  merchant  and  treasure  ships  of 
Spain  their  prey,  slaughtering  their  crews,  torturing 
them  for  hidden  wealth,  rioting  with  profuse  prodi- 
gality at  their  lurking-places  on  land,  and  turning 
those  fair  tropical  islands  into  a  pandemonium  of 
outrage,  crime,  and  slaughter.  As  they  troubled 
266 


HENRY   3I0RGAN   AND   THE   BUCCANEERS.          267 

little  the  ships  of  other  nations,  these  nations  rather 
favored  than  sought  to  suppress  them,  and  Spain 
seemed  powerless  to  bring  their  ravages  to  an  end. 
In  consequence,  as  the  years  went  on,  they  grew 
bolder  and  more  adventurous.  Beginning  with  a 
few  small,  deckless  sloops,  they  in  time  gained  large 
and  well-armed  vessels,  and  created  so  deep  a  terror 
among  the  Spaniards  by  their  savage  attacks  that 
the  latter  rarely  made  a  strong  resistance. 

Lurking  in  forest-hidden  creeks  and  inlets  of  the 
West  India  islands,  they  kept  a  keen  lookout  for  the 
ships  that  bore  to  Spain  the  gold,  silver,  precious 
stones,  and  rich  products  of  the  New  World,  pur- 
sued them  in  their  swift  barks,  boarded  them,  and 
killed  all  who  ventured  to  resist.  If  the  cargo  was 
a  rich  one,  and  there  had  been  little  effort  at  defence, 
the  prisoners  might  be  spared  their  lives ;  if  other- 
wise, they  were  flung  mercilessly  into  the  sea.  Sail- 
ing then  to  their  place  of  rendezvous,  the  captors  in- 
dulged in  the  wildest  and  most  luxurious  orgies,  their 
tables  groaning  with  strong  liquors  and  rich  pro- 
visions; gaming,  music,  and  dancing  succeeding; 
extravagance,  debauchery,  and  profusion  of  every 
kind  soon  dissipating  their  blood-bought  wealth. 

Among  the  pirate  leaders  several  gained  promi- 
nence  for  superior  boldness  or  cruelty,  among  whom 
we  may  particularly  name  L'Olonnois,  a  French- 
man, of  such  savage  ferocity  that  all  mariners  of 
Spanish  birth  shuddered  with  fear  at  his  very  name. 
This  wretch  suffered  the  fate  he  deserved.  In  an 
expedition  to  the  Isthmus  of  Darien  he  was  taken 
prisoner  by  a  band  of  savage  Indians,  who  tore  him 


268  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

to  pieces  alive,  flung  his  quivering  limbs  into  the 
fire,  and  then  scattered  the  ashes  to  the  air. 

Most  renowned  of  all  the  buccaneers  was  Henry 
Morgan,  a  native  of  Wales,  who  ran  away  from  home 
as  a  boy,  was  sold  as  a  slave  in  Barbadoes,  and  after- 
wards joined  a  pirate  crew,  in  time  becoming  a  leader 
among  the  lawless  hordes.  By  this  time  the  raids 
of  the  ferocious  buccaneers  had  almost  put  an  end 
to  Spanish  commerce  with  the  ^ew  World,  and  the 
daring  freebooters,  finding  their  gains  at  sea  falling 
ofi',  collected  fleets  and  made  attacks  on  land,  plun- 
dering rich  towns  and  laying  waste  thriving  settle- 
ments. So  greatly  had  Spanish  courage  degenerated 
that  the  pirates  with  ease  put  to  flight  ten  times 
their  number  of  that  Spanish  soldiery  which,  a  cen- 
tury before,  had  been  the  finest  in  the  world. 

The  first  pirate  to  make  such  a  raid  was  Lewis 
Scott,  who  sacked  the  town  of  Campeachy,  robbing 
it  of  all  its  wealth,  and  forcing  its  inhabitants  to 
pay  an  enormous  ransom.  Another  named  Davies 
marched  inland  to  Nicaragua,  took  and  plundered 
that  town,  and  carried  off  a  rich  booty  in  silver  and 
precious  stones.  He  afterwards  pillaged  the  city  of 
St.  Augustine,  Florida.  Others  performed  similar 
exploits,  but  we  must  confine  our  attention  to  the 
deeds  of  Morgan,  the  boldest  and  most  successful  of 
them  all. 

Morgan's  first  enterprise  was  directed  against  Port 
au  Prince,  Cuba,  where,  however,  the  Spaniards  had 
received  warning  and  concealed  their  treasures,  so 
that  the  buccaneer  gained  little  for  his  pains.  His 
next  expedition  was   against  Porto  Bello,  on  the 


HENRY  MORGAN  AND  THE  BUCCANEERS.    269 

Isthmus,  one  of  the  richest  and  best  fortified  of 
American  cities.  Two  castles,  believed  to  be  im- 
pregnable, commanded  the  entrances  to  the  har- 
bor. When  the  freebooters  learned  that  their  leader 
proposed  to  attack  so  strong  a  place  as  this  the 
hearts  of  the  boldest  among  them  shrank.  But 
Morgan,  with  a  few  inspiring  words,  restored  their 
courage. 

"  What  boots  it,"  he  exclaimed,  "  how  small  our 
number,  if  our  hearts  be  great !  The  fewer  we  are 
the  closer  will  be  our  union  and  the  larger  our  shares 
of  plunder." 

Boldness  and  secrecy  carried  the  day.  One  of  the 
castles  was  taken  by  surprise,  the  first  knowledge 
of  the  attack  coming  to  the  people  of  the  town  from 
the  concussion  when  Morgan  blew  it  up.  Before  the 
garrison  or  the  citizens  could  prepare  to  oppose  them 
the  freebooters  were  in  the  town.  The  governor 
and  garrison  fled  in  panic  haste  to  the  other  castle, 
while  the  terrified  people  threw  their  treasures  into 
wells  and  cisterns.  The  castle  made  a  gallant  re- 
sistance, but  was  soon  obliged  to  yield  to  the  im- 
petuous attacks  of  the  pirate  crews. 

It  was  no  light  exploit  which  Morgan  had  per- 
formed,— to  take  with  five  hundred  men  a  fortified 
city  with  a  large  garrison  and  strengthened  by  nat- 
ural obstacles  to  assault.  The  ablest  general  in  or- 
dinary war  might  well  have  claimed  renown  for  so 
signal  a  victory.  But  the  ability  of  the  leader  was 
tarnished  by  the  cruelty  of  the  buccaneer.  The  peo- 
ple were  treated  with  shocking  barbarity,  many  of 
them  being  shut  up  in  convents  and  churches  and 


270  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

burned  alive,  while  the  pirates  gave  themselves  up 
to  every  excess  of  debauchery. 

The  great  booty  gained  by  this  raid  caused  nu- 
merous pirate  captains  to  enlist  under  Morgan's  flag, 
and  other  towns  were  taken,  in  which  similar  orgies 
of  cruelty  and  debauchery  followed.  But  the  im- 
punity of  the  buccaneers  was  nearing  its  end.  Their 
atrocious  acts  had  at  length  aroused  the  indignation 
of  the  civilized  world,  and  a  treaty  was  concluded 
between  Great  Britain  and  Spain  whose  chief  pur- 
pose was  to  put  an  end  to  these  sanguinary  and 
ferocious  deeds. 

The  first  effect  of  this  treaty  was  to  spur  the  buc- 
caneers to  the  performance  of  some  exploit  surpassing 
any  they  had  yet  achieved.  So  high  was  Morgan's 
reputation  among  the  pirates  that  they  flocked  from 
all  quarters  to  enlist  under  his  flag,  and  he  soon  had 
a  fleet  of  no  fewer  than  thirty-seven  vessels  manned 
by  two  thousand  men.  With  so  large  a  force  an  ex- 
pedition on  a  greater  scale  could  well  be  undertaken, 
and  a  counsel  of  the  chiefs  debated  whether  they 
should  make  an  assault  upon  Vera  Cruz,  Carthagena, 
or  Panama.  Their  choice  fell  upon  Panama,  as  the 
richest  of  the  three. 

The  city  of  Panama  at  that  time  (1670)  was  con- 
sidered one  of  the  greatest  and  most  opulent  in 
America.  It  contained  two  thousand  large  buildings 
and  five  thousand  smaller,  all  of  which  were  three 
stories  high.  Many  of  these  were  built  of  stone, 
others  of  cedar  wood,  being  elegantly  constructed 
and  richly  furnished.  The  city  was  the  emporium 
for  the  silver-  and  gold-mines  of  New  Spain,  and  its 


HENRY   MORGAN   AND  THE  -BtJCCANEERS.  271 

merchants  lived  in  great  opulence,  their  houses  rich 
in  articles  of  gold  and  silver,  adorned  with  beautiful 
paintings  and  other  works  of  art,  and  full  of  the 
luxuries  of  the  age.  The  churches  were  magnificent 
in  their  decorations,  and  richly  embellished  with  or- 
naments in  gold  and  silver.  The  city  presented  such 
a  prize  to  cupidity  as  freebooters  and  bandits  had 
rarely  conceived  of  in  their  wildest  dreams. 

The  daring  enterprise  began  with  the  capture  by 
four  hundred  men  of  the  Fort  of  St.  Laurence,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Chagres  Eiver.  Up  this  serpentine 
stream  sailed  the  freebooters,  as  far  as  it  would  bear 
them,  and  thence  they  marched  overland,  suffering 
the  greatest  hardships  and  overcoming  difficulties 
which  would  have  deterred  men  of  less  intrepid 
spirit.  Eight  days  of  this  terrible  march  brought 
the  adventurers  within  sight  of  the  far-spreading 
Pacific,  and  of  the  spires  of  the  coveted  city  on  its 
shores. 

The  people  of  Panama  had  been  apprised  of  what 
was  in  store  for  them,  and  had  laid  ambuscades  for 
the  buccaneers,  but  Morgan,  by  taking  an  indirect 
route  to  the  town,  avoided  these.  Panama  was  but 
partly  fortified.  In  several  quarters  it  lay  open  to 
attack.  It  must  be  fought  for  and  won  or  lost  on 
the  open  plain.  Here  the  Spaniards  had  assembled 
to  the  number  of  two  thousand  infantry  and  four 
hundred  cavalry,  well  equipped  and  possessing  every- 
thing needed  but  spirit  to  meet  the  dreaded  foe. 
They  had  adopted  an  expedient  sure  to  prove  a 
dangerous  one.  A  herd  of  wild  bulls,  to  the  number 
of  more  than  two  thousand,  was  provided,  with  In- 


272  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

dians  and  negroes  to  drive  them  on  the  pirate  horde. 
The  result  resembled  that  in  which  the  Greeks  drove 
elephants  upon  the  Eoman  legions.  Many  of  the 
buccaneers  were  accustomed  to  the  chase  of  wild 
cattle,  and,  by  shouts  and  the  waving  of  colored 
flags,  turned  the  bulls  back  upon  the  Spanish  lines, 
which  they  threw  into  disorder. 

The  buccaneers  followed  with  an  impetuous  charge 
which  broke  the  ranks  of  the  defenders  of  the 
town,  who,  after  a  two  hours'  combat,  were  com- 
pletely routed,  the  most  of  them  being  killed  or 
taken  prisoners.  The  assault  was  now  directed  upon 
the  town,  which  was  strongly  defended,  the  pirates 
being  twice  repulsed  and  suffering  much  from  the 
numerous  Spanish  guns.  But  after  a  three  hours' 
fight  they  overcame  all  opposition  and  the  city  fell 
into  their  hands. 

A  scene  of  frightful  bloodshed  and  inhumanity 
followed.  The  buccaneers  gave  no  quarter,  killing 
all  they  met.  Lest  they  should  be  exposed  to  a 
counter  assault  while  intoxicated,  Morgan  called 
them  together  and  forbade  them  to  taste  the  wine 
of  the  town,  saying  that  it  had  been  poisoned. 
Conflagration  followed  massacre.  Fires  broke  out 
in  several  quarters  of  the  city,  and  great  numbers 
of  dwellings,  with  churches,  convents,  and  numerous 
warehouses  filled  with  valuable  goods  were  reduced 
to  ashes.  These  fires  continued  to  burn  during 
most  of  the  month  in  which  the  freebooters  held  the 
city,  and  in  which  they  indulged  to  the  full  in  their 
accustomed  cruelty,  rapacity,  and  licentiousness. 

Treasure  was  found  in  great  quantities  in  the  wells 


I 


HENRY  MORGAN  AND  THE  BUCCANEERS.    273 


and  caves,  where  it  had  been  thrown  by  the  terrified 
people.  The  vessels  taken  in  the  harbor  yielded 
valuable  commodities.  Detachments  were  sent  into 
the  country  to  capture  and  bring  back  those  who 
had  fled  for  safety,  and  by  torturing  these  several 
rich  deposits  of  treasure  were  discovered  in  the  sur- 
rounding forests.  A  few  of  the  inhabitants  escaped 
with  their  wealth  by  sea,  seeking  shelter  in  the 
islands  of  the  bay,  and  a  galleon  laden  with  the 
king's  plate  and  jewels  and  other  precious  articles 
belonging  to  the  church  and  the  people  narrowly 
escaped  after  a  hot  chase  by  the  buccaneers.  With 
these  exceptions  the  rich  city  was  completely  looted. 

After  a  month  spent  among  the  ruins  of  Panama 
Morgan  and  his  villanous  followers  departed,  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  mules  carrying  their  more 
bulky  spoil,  while  with  them  were  six  hundred  pris- 
oners, some  carrying  burdens,  others  held  to  ran- 
som. Thus  laden,  they  reached  again  the  mouth  of 
the  Chagres,  where  their  ships  awaited  them  and 
where  a  division  of  the  spoil  was  to  be  made. 

Treachery  followed  this  stupendous  act  of  piracy, 
Morgan's  later  history  being  an  extraordinary  one 
for  a  man  of  his  infamous  record.  He  was  possessed 
with  the  demon  of  cupidity,  and  a  quarrel  arose  be- 
tween him  and  his  men  concerning  the  division  of 
the  spoil.  Morgan  ended  it  by  running  off  with  the 
disputed  plunder.  On  the  night  preceding  the  final 
division,  during  the  hours  of  deepest  slumber,  the 
treacherous  chief,  with  a  few  of  his  confidants,  set 
sail  for  Jamaica,  in  a  vessel  deeply  laden  with  spoils. 
On  waking  and  learning  this  act  of  base  treachery, 

18 


274  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

the  infuriated  pirates  pursued  him,  but  in  vain ;  he 
safely  reached  Jamaica  with  his  ill-gotten  wealth. 

In  this  English  island  the  pirate  chief  gained  not 
only  safety,  but  honors.  In  some  way  he  won  the 
favor  of  Charles  II.,  who  knighted  him  as  Sir  Henry 
Morgan  and  placed  him  on  the  admiralty  court  in 
Jamaica.  He  subsequently,  for  a  time,  acted  as 
deputy  governor,  and  in  this  office  displayed  the 
greatest  severity  towards  his  old  associates,  several 
of  whom  were  tried  before  him  and  executed.  One 
whole  crew  of  buccaneers  were  sent  by  him  to  the 
Spaniards  at  Carthagena,  in  whose  hands  they  were 
likely  to  find  little  favor.  He  was  subsequently  ar- 
rested, sent  to  England,  and  imprisoned  for  three 
years  under  charges  from  Spain ;  but  this  was  the 
sole  punishment  dealt  out  to  the  most  notorious  of 
the  buccaneers. 

The  success  of  Morgan's  enterprise  stimulated  the 
piratical  crews  to  similar  deeds  of  daring,  and  the 
depredations  continued,  not  only  in  the  West  Indies 
and  eastern  South  America,  but  afterwards  along  the 
Pacific,  the  cities  of  Leon,  in  Mexico,  'New  Granada, 
on  the  lake  of  Mcaragua,  and  Guayaquil,  the  port 
of  Quito,  being  taken,  sacked,  and  burned.  Finally, 
France  and  England  joined  Spain  in  efforts  for  their 
suppression,  the  coasts  were  more  strictly  guarded, 
and  many  of  the  freebooters  settled  as  planters  or 
became  mariners  in  honest  trade.  Some  of  them, 
however,  continued  in  their  old  courses,  dispersing 
over  all  seas  as  enemies  of  the  shipping  of  the  world ; 
but  by  the  year  1700  their  career  had  fairly  come  to 
an  end,  and  the  race  of  buccaneers  ceased  to  exist. 


r 


ELIZABETH  FARNESE  AND   AL- 
BERONI. 

In  1714  certain  events  took  place  in  Spain  of  suf- 
ficient interest  to  be  worth  the  telling.  Philip  V., 
a  feeble  monarch,  like  all  those  for  the  century  pre- 
ceding him,  was  on  the  throne.  In  his  youth  he 
had  been  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  grandson  of  Louis  XIY. 
of  France,  and  upon  the  death  of  that  great  monarch 
would  be  close  in  the  succession  to  the  throne  of  that 
kingdom.  But,  chosen  as  king  of  Spain  by  the  will 
of  Charles  II.,  he  preferred  a  sure  seat  to  a  doubtful 
one,  and  renounced  his  claim  to  the  French  crown, 
thus  bringing  to  an  end  the  fierce  "  War  of  the  Suc- 
cession," which  had  involved  most  of  the  powers  of 
Europe  for  many  years. 

Philip,  by  nature  weak  and  yielding,  became  in 
time  a  confirmed  hypochondriac,  and  on  the  death 
of  his  wife,  Maria  Louise,  in  1714,  abandoned  him- 
self to  grief,  refusing  to  attend  to  business  of  any 
kind,  shutting  himself  up  in  the  strictest  seclusion, 
and  leaving  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  practically  in 
the  hands  of  the  Princess  Orsini,  the  governess  of 
his  children,  and  his  chief  adviser. 

Sorrow-stricken  as  was  the  bereaved  king,  affairs 
were  already  in  train  to  provide  him  with  a  new 
wife,  a  plan  being  laid  for  that  purpose  at  the  very 

275 


276  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

funeral  of  his  queen  between  the  ambitious  Princess 
Orsini  and  a  cunning  Italian  named  Alberoni,  while 
they,  with  a  show  of  grave  decorum,  followed  Maria 
Louise  to  the  grave. 

The  story  of  Alberoni  is  an  interesting  one.  This 
man,  destined  to  become  prime  minister  of  Spain, 
began  life  as  the  son  of  a  gardener  in  the  duchy  of 
Parma.  While  a  youth  he  showed  such  powers  of 
intellect  that  the  Jesuits  took  him  into  their  seminary 
and  gave  him  an  education  far  superior  to  his  station. 
He  assumed  holy  orders  and,  by  a  combination  of 
knowledge  and  abiUty  with  adulation  and  buffoonery 
of  a  shameless  character,  made  his  way  until  he  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  interpreter  to  the  Bishop 
of  St.  Domino,  who  was  about  to  set  out  on  a  mis- 
sion from  the  Duke  of  Parma  to  the  Duke  of  Yen- 
dome,  then  commander  of  the  French  forces  in  Italy. 

The  worthy  bishop  soon  grew  thoroughly  dis- 
gusted with  Yendome,  who,  high  as  he  was  in  sta- 
tion, displayed  a  shameless  grossness  of  manner 
which  was  more  than  the  pious  churchman  could 
endure.  The  conduct  of  the  affair  was  therefore  left 
to  the  interpreter,  whose  delicacy  was  not  disturbed 
by  the  duke's  behavior,  and  who  managed  to  ingra- 
tiate himself  fully  in  the  good  graces  of  the  French 
general,  becoming  so  great  a  favorite  that  in  the  end 
he  left  the  service  of  the  Duke  of  Parma  for  that  of 
Yendome. 

Subsequently  the  duke  was  appointed  to  a  com- 
mand in  Spain,  where  he  employed  Alberoni  in  all 
his  negotiations  with  the  court  of  Madrid.  Here  the 
wily  and  unscrupulous  Italian  won  the  favor  of  the 


ELIZABETH   FARNESE   AND  ALBERONI.  277 

Princess  Orsini  so  fully  that  when,  on  Vendome's 
death,  he  returned  home,  the  Duke  of  Parma  sent 
him  as  his  envoy  to  Spain. 

The  princess  little  dreamed  the  character  of  the 
man  whom  she  had  taken  into  confidential  relations, 
and  who  was  plotting  to  overthrow  her  influence  at 
court.  As  the  funeral  procession  of  Maria  Louise 
moved  slowly  onward,  the  princess  spoke  to  Alberoni 
of  the  urgent  necessity  of  finding  another  bride  for 
the  disconsolate  king.  The  shrewd  Italian  named 
several  eligible  princesses,  each  of  whom  he  dismissed 
as  objectionable  for  one  reason  or  another.  At  the 
end  he  adroitly  introduced  the  name  of  Elizabeth 
Farnese,  step-daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Parma,  of 
whom  he  spoke  carelessly  as  a  good  girl,  fattened 
on  Parmesan  cheese  and  butter,  and  so  narrowly 
educated  that  she  had  not  an  idea  beyond  her  em- 
broidery. She  might  succeed,  he  hinted,  to  the 
throne  of  Parma,  as  the  duke  had  no  child  of  his 
own,  in  which  case  there  would  be  a  chance  for 
Spain  to  regain  her  lost  provinces  in  Italy. 

The  deluded  Princess  Orsini  was  delighted  with 
the  suggestion.  With  such  a  girl  as  this  for  queen 
she  could  continue  to  hold  the  reins  of  state.  She 
easily  induced  Philip  to  approve  the  choice ;  the 
Duke  of  Parma  was  charmed  with  the  offer ;  and 
the  preliminary  steps  to  the  marriage  were  hurried 
through  with  all  possible  rapidity. 

Before  the  final  conclusion  of  the  afi*air,  however, 
the  Princess  Orsini  discovered  in  some  way  that 
Alberoni  had  lied,  and  that  the  proposed  bride  was 
by  no  means  the  ignorant  and  incapable   country 


278  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

girl  she  had  been  told.  Furious  at  the  deception, 
she  at  once  sent  off  a  courier  with  orders  to  stop  all 
further  proceedings  relating  to  the  marriage.  The 
messenger  reached  Parma  in  the  morning  of  the  day 
on  which  the  marriage  ceremony  was  to  be  performed 
by  proxy.  But  Alberoni  was  wide  awake  to  the 
danger,  and  managed  to  have  the  messenger  de- 
tained until  it  was  too  late.  Before  he  could  deliver 
his  despatches  Elizabeth  Farnese  was  the  legal  wife 
of  Philip  of  Spain. 

The  new  queen  had  been  fully  advised  of  the  state 
of  affairs  by  Alberoni.  The  Princess  Orsini,  to  whom 
she  owed  her  elevation,  was  to  be  got  rid  of,  at  once 
and  permanently.  On  crossing  the  frontiers  she 
was  met  by  all  her  household  except  the  princess, 
who  was  with  the  king,  then  on  his  way  to  meet  and 
espouse  his  bride.  At  Alcala  the  princess  left  him 
and  hastened  to  meet  the  queen,  reaching  the  village 
of  Xadraca  in  time  to  receive  her  as  she  alighted 
from  her  carriage,  kiss  her  hand,  and  in  virtue 
of  her  office  at  court  to  conduct  her  to  her  apart- 
ment. 

Elizabeth  met  the  princess  with  a  show  of  gracious- 
ness,  but  on  entering  her  chamber  suddenly  turned 
and  accused  her  visitor  of  insulting  her  by  lack  of 
respect,  and  by  appearing  before  her  in  improper 
attire.  The  amazed  princess,  overwhelmed  by  this 
accusation,  apologized  and  remonstrated,  but  the 
queen  refused  to  Hsten  to  her,  ordered  her  from  the 
room,  and  bade  the  officer  of  the  guard  to  arrest  and 
convey  her  beyond  the  frontier. 

Here  was  a  change  in  the  situation  I     The  officer 


ELIZABETH   FARNESE   AND   ALBERONI.  279 

hesitated  to  arrest  one  who  for  years  had  been  su- 
preme in  Spain. 

"  Were  you  not  instructed  to  obey  me  implicitly  ?" 
demanded  Elizabeth. 

"  Yes,  your  majesty." 

"Then  do  as  I  have  ordered.  I  assume  all  re- 
sponsibility." 

"  Will  your  majesty  give  me  a  written  sanction  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Elizabeth,  in  a  tone  very  different  from 
that  of  the  bread-and-butter  miss  whom  Alberoni 
had  represented  her. 

Calling  for  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  she  wrote  upon 
her  knee  an  order  for  the  princess's  arrest,  and  bade 
the  hesitating  officer  to  execute  it  at  once. 

He  dared  no  longer  object.  The  princess,  in  court 
dress,  was  hurried  into  a  carriage,  with  a  single 
female  attendant  and  two  officers,  being  allowed 
neither  a  change  of  clothing,  protection  against  the 
cold,  nor  money  to  procure  needed  conveniences  on 
the  road.  In  this  way  a  woman  of  over  sixty  years 
of  age,  whose  will  a  few  hours  before  had  been  ab- 
solute in  Spain,  was  forced  to  travel  throughout  an 
inclement  winter  night,  and  continue  her  journey 
until  she  was  thrust  beyond  the  limits  of  Spain, 
within  which  she  was  never  again  permitted  to  set 
foot. 

Such  was  the  first  act  of  the  docile  girl  whom  the 
ambitious  princess  had  fully  expected  to  use  as  a  tool 
for  her  designs.  Schooled  by  the  scheming  Italian, 
and  perhaps  sanctioned  by  Philip,  who  may  have 
wished  to  get  rid  of  his  old  favorite,  Elizabeth  at 
the  start  showed  a  grasp  of  the  situation  which  she 


280  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

was  destined  to  keep  until  the  end.  The  feeble- 
minded monarch  at  once  fell  under  her  influence, 
and  soon  all  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  became  sub- 
ject to  her  control. 

Elizabeth  was  a  woman  of  restless  ambition  and 
impetuous  temper,  and  she  managed  throughout 
Philip's  reign  to  keep  the  kingdom  in  constant  hot 
water.  The  objects  she  kept  in  view  were  two :  first, 
to  secure  to  Philip  the  reversion  of  the  French  crown 
in  case  of  the  death  of  the  then  Duke  of  Anjou, 
despite  the  fact  that  he  had  taken  frequent  oaths  of 
renunciation  ;  second,  to  secure  for  her  own  children 
sovereign  rule  in  Italy. 

We  cannot  detail  the  long  story  of  the  intrigues 
by  which  the  ambitious  woman  sought  to  bring  about 
these  purposes,  but  in  all  of  them  she  found  an  able 
ally  in  Alberoni.  Elizabeth  did  not  forget  that  she 
owed  her  high  position  to  this  man.  They  were, 
besides,  congenial  in  disposition,  and  she  persuaded 
Philip  to  trust  and  consult  him,  and  finally  to  appoint 
him  prime  minister.  Not  satisfied  with  this  reward 
to  her  favorite,  she,  after  a  few  years,  induced  the 
Pope  to  grant  him  a  cardinal's  hat  and  Philip  to 
make  him  a  grandee  of  Spain.  The  gardener's  son 
had,  by  ability  and  unscrupulousness,  reached  the 
highest  summit  to  which  his  ambition  could  aspire. 

From  the  greatest  height  one  may  make  the  most 
rapid  fall.  The  power  of  Alberoni  was  destined 
quickly  to  reach  its  end.  Yet  it  was  less  his  own 
fault  than  the  ambition  of  the  queen  that  led  to  the 
termination  of  his  career.  As  a  prime  minister  he 
proved  a  marked  success,  giving  Spain  an  adminis- 


r 


ELIZABETH   FARNESE   AND   ALBERONI.  281 


tration  far  superior  to  any  she  had  enjoyed  for  many 
years.  Alberoni  was  a  man  of  great  ability,  which 
he  employed  in  zealous  efforts  to  improve  the  in- 
ternal condition  of  the  country,  having  the  wisdom 
to  avail  himself  of  the  talents  and  knowledge  of 
other  able  men  in  handling  those  departments  of 
government  with  which  he  was  unfamiliar.  He 
seemed  inclined  to  keep  Spain  at  peace,  at  least  until 
she  had  regained  some  of  her  old  power  and  energy; 
but  the  demands  of  the  queen  overcame  his  reluc- 
tance, and  in  the  end  he  entered  upon  the  accom- 
plishment of  her  purposes  with  a  daring  and  reck- 
lessness in  full  accordance  with  the  demands  of  her 
restless  spirit  of  intrigue. 

Louis  XIY.  died  in  1715.  Louis  XY.,  his  heir, 
was  a  sickly  child,  not  yet  five  years  old.  Philip 
would  have  been  regent  during  his  youth,  and  his 
heir  in  case  of  his  death,  had  he  not  renounced  all 
claim  to  the  French  throne.  He  was  too  weak  and 
irresolute  in  himself  to  take  any  steps  to  gain  this 
position,  but  his  wife  spurred  him  on  to  ambitious 
designs,  and  Alberoni  entered  eagerly  into  her  pro- 
jects, beginning  a  series  of  intrigues  in  France  with 
all  who  were  opposed  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  the 
existing  regent. 

These  intrigues  led  to  war.  The  duke  concluded 
an  alliance  with  England  and  Germany,  the  former 
enemies  of  France.  Philip,  exasperated  at  seeing 
himself  thus  thwarted,  declared  war  against  the 
German  emperor,  despite  all  that  Alberoni  could  do 
to  prevent,  and  sent  an  expedition  against  Sardinia, 
which  captured  that  island.     Sicily  was  also  invaded. 


282  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

Alberoni  now  entered  into  intrigues  for  the  restora- 
tion of  the  banished  Stuarts  to  the  English  throne, 
and  took  part  in  a  conspiracy  in  France  to  seize  the 
Duke  of  Orleans  and  appoint  Philip  to  the  regency. 

Both  these  plots  failed,  the  war  became  general, 
Philip  found  his  armies  beaten,  and  Alberoni  was 
forced  to  treat  for  peace.  The  Spanish  minister 
had  made  bitter  enemies  of  George  I.  of  England 
and  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  who,  claiming  that  he  was 
responsible  for  disturbing  the  peace  of  Europe,  de- 
manded his  dismissal  as  a  preliminary  to  peace. 
His  failure  had  lost  him  influence  with  the  king,  but 
the  queen,  the  real  power  behind  the  throne,  sup- 
ported him,  and  it  was  only  by  promises  of  the  ene- 
mies of  Alberoni  to  aid  her  views  for  the  establish- 
ment of  her  children  that  she  was  induced  to  yield 
consent  to  his  overthrow. 

On  the  4th  of  December,  1719,  Alberoni  spent  the 
evening  transacting  affairs  of  state  with  the  king 
and  queen.  Up  to  that  time  he  remained  in  full 
favor  and  authority,  however  he  may  have  sus- 
pected the  intrigues  for  his  overthrow.  Their 
majesties  that  night  left  Madrid  for  their  country 
palace  at  Pardo,  and  from  there  was  sent  a  decree 
by  the  hands  of  a  secretary  of  state,  to  the  all- 
powerful  minister,  depriving  him  of  all  his  offices, 
and  bidding  him  to  quit  Madrid  within  eight  days 
and  Spain  within  three  weeks. 

Alberoni  had  long  been  hated  by  the  people  of 
Spain,  and  detested  by  the  grandees,  who  could  not 
be  reconciled  to  the  supremacy  of  a  foreigner  and 
his  appointment  to  equality  with  them  in  rank.    But 


I 


ELIZABETH   FARNESE   AND   ALBERONI.  283 


this  sudden  dismissal  seemed  to  change  their  senti- 
ments, and  rouse  them  to  realization  of  the  fact 
that  Spain  was  losing  its  ablest  man.  Nobles  and 
clergy  flocked  to  his  house  in  such  numbers  that  the 
king  became  alarmed  at  this  sudden  popularity,  and 
ordered  him  to  shorten  the  time  of  his  departure. 

Alberoni  sought  refuge  in  Eome,  but  here  the 
enmity  of  France  and  England  pursued  him,  and 
Philip  accused  him  of  misdemeanors  in  office,  for 
which  he  demanded  a  trial  by  the  Pope  and  cardinals. 
Before  these  judges  the  disgraced  minister  defended 
himself  so  ably  that  the  court  brought  the  investi- 
gation to  a  sudden  end  by  ordering  him  to  retire  to 
a  monastery  for  three  years. 

This  period  the  favor  of  the  Pope  reduced  to  one 
year,  and  his  chief  enemy,  the  regent  of  France, 
soon  after  dying,  he  was  permitted  to  leave  the 
monastery  and  pass  the  remainder  of  his  life  free 
from  persecution.  His  career  was  a  singular  one, 
considering  the  lowness  of  his  origin,  and  showed 
what  ability  and  shrewdness  may  accomplish  even 
against  the  greatest  obstacles  of  fortune. 


THE  ROCK  OF  GIBRALTAR. 


The  great  Mediterranean  Sea  has  its  gate-way, 
nine  miles  wide,  opening  into  the  Atlantic,  the  gate- 
posts being  the  headland  of  Ceuta,  on  the  African 
coast,  and  the  famous  rock  of  Gibraltar,  in  southwest- 
ern Spain,  two  natural  fortresses  facing  each  other 
across  the  sea.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  African 
headland  is  held  by  Spain,  and  the  Spanish  headland 
by  Great  Britain, — this  being  a  result  of  the  wars 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Gibraltar,  in  fact,  has 
had  a  striking  history,  one  worth  the  telling. 

This  towering  mass  of  rock  rises  in  solitary  gran- 
deur at  the  extremity  of  a  sandy  level,  reaching 
upward  to  a  height  of  fourteen  hundred  and  eight 
feet,  while  it  is  three  miles  long  and  three-fourths 
of  a  mile  in  average  width.  It  forms  a  stronghold 
of  nature  which  attracted  attention  at  an  early  date. 
To  the  Greeks  it  was  one  of  the  Pillars  of  Hercules, 
— Abyla  (now  Ceuta)  being  the  other, —  and  formed 
the  supposed  western  boundary  of  the  world.  Tarik, 
the  Arab,  landed  here  in  711,  fortified  the  rock,  and 
made  it  his  base  of  operations  against  Gothic  Spain. 
From  him  it  received  its  name,  Gebel  el  Tarik  (Hill 
of  Tarik),  now  corrupted  into  Gibraltar.  For  seven 
centuries  it  remained  in  Moorish  hands,  except  for  a 
short  interval  after  1302,  when  it  was  taken  by  Fer- 
dinand II.  of  Castile.  The  king  of  Granada  soon 
284 


THE   ROCK   OF   GIBRALTAR.  285 

recaptured  it ;  from  him  it  was  taken  by  treachery 
by  the  king  of  Fez  in  1333 ;  Alfonso  XI.  of  Castile 
vigorously  besieged  it,  but  in  vain  •,  the  king  of 
Granada  mastered  it  again  in  1410 ;  and  it  finally 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Spain  in  1462. 

A  formidable  attempt  was  made  by  the  Moors  for 
its  recovery  in  1540,  it  being  vigorously  attacked  by 
the  pirates  of  Algiers,  who  fought  fiercely  to  win  the 
rock,  but  were  finally  repulsed. 

For  the  next  event  in  the  history  of  this  much- 
coveted  rock  we  must  go  on  to  the  year  1704,  when 
the  celebrated  war  of  the  Succession  was  in  full 
play.  Louis  XIY.  of  France  supported  his  grand- 
son Philip  Y.  as  the  successor  to  the  throne  of 
Spain.  The  Archduke  Charles  of  Austria  was  sup- 
ported by  England,  Portugal,  and  Holland,  and  was 
conveyed  to  the  Peninsula  and  landed  at  Lisbon  by 
an  English  fleet  under  Admiral  Eorke.  The  admiral, 
having  disposed  of  the  would-be  king,  sailed  for  Bar- 
celona, which  he  was  told  was  a  ripe  plum,  ready  to 
fall  into  his  mouth.  He  was  disappointed  ;  Barcelona 
was  by  no  means  ripe  for  his  purposes,  and  he  sailed 
back,  ready  for  any  enterprise  that  might  offer  itself 

Soon  before  him  towered  the  rock  of  Gibraltar, 
a  handsome  prize  if  it  could  be  captured,  and  poorly 
defended,  as  he  knew.  The  Spaniards,  trusting,  as 
it  seems,  in  the  natural  strength  of  the  place,  which 
they  deemed  impregnable,  had  left  it  with  a  very 
small  supply  of  artillery  and  ammunition,  and  with 
almost  no  garrison.  Here  was  a  promising  oppor- 
tunity for  the  disappointed  admiral  and  his  associate, 
the  prince  of  Hesse  Darmstadt,  who   headed  the 


28b  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

foreign  troops.  A  landing  was  made,  siege  linea 
were  opened,  batteries  were  erected,  and  a  hot  bom- 
bardment began,  to  which  the  feeble  garrison  could 
make  but  a  weak  reply.  But  the  most  effective 
work  was  done  by  a  body  of  soldiers,  who  scrambled 
up  a  part  of  the  rock  that  no  one  dreamed  could  be 
ascended,  and  appeared  above  the  works,  filling  with 
terror  the  hearts  of  the  garrison. 

Two  days  answered  for  the  enterprise.  At  the 
end  of  that  time  the  governor,  Don  Diego  de  Salmas, 
capitulated,  and  Gibraltar  was  taken  possession  of 
in  the  name  of  Queen  Anne  of  England,  the  prince 
being  left  there  with  a  garrison  of  two  thousand 
men.  From  that  time  to  this  Gibraltar  has  remained 
an  outpost  of  Great  Britain,  with  whose  outlying 
strongholds  the  whole  world  bristles. 

The  loss  of  this  strong  place  proved  a  bitter 
draught  to  the  pride  of  Spain,  and  strenuous  efforts 
to  recapture  it  were  made.  In  the  succeeding  year 
(1705)  it  was  besieged  by  a  strong  force  of  French 
and  Spanish  troops,  but  their  efforts  were  wasted, 
for  the  feeble  court  of  Madrid  left  the  army  des- 
titute of  necessary  supplies.  By  the  peace  of 
Utrecht,  1713,  Gibraltar  was  formally  made  over  to 
Great  Britain,  a  country  famous  for  clinging  with 
a  death-grip  to  any  place  of  which  she  has  once 
taken  hold. 

Later  efforts  were  made  to  win  the  Eock  of  Tarik 
for  Spain,  one  in  1756,  but  the  last  and  greatest  in 
1779-82.  It  is  this  vigorous  effort  with  which  we 
are  here  concerned,  the  siege  being  one  of  the  most 
famous  of  recent  times. 


THE   ROCK   OP   GIBRALTAR.  287 

The  Eevolutionary  War  in  the  United  States  stirred 
up  all  Europe,  and  finally  brought  Great  Britian  two 
new  foes,  the  allied  kingdoms  of  France  and  Spain. 
The  latter  country  had  never  lost  its  irritation  at 
seeing  a  foreign  power  in  possession  of  a  part  of  its 
home  territory.  Efforts  were  made  to  obtain  Gib- 
raltar by  negotiation,  Spain  offering  her  friendly  aid 
to  Great  Britain  in  her  wars  if  she  would  give  up 
Gibraltar.  This  the  British  government  positively 
refused  to  do,  and  war  was  declared.  A  siege  of  Gib- 
raltar began  which  lasted  for  more  than  three  years. 

Spain  began  the  work  in  1779  with  a  blockade  by 
sea  and  an  investment  by  land.  Supplies  were  cut 
off  from  the  garrison,  which  was  soon  in  a  state  of 
serious  distress  for  food,  and  strong  hopes  were  en- 
tertained that  it  would  be  forced  to  yield.  But  the 
British  government  was  alert.  Admiral  Eodney 
was  sent  with  a  strong  fleet  to  the  Mediterranean, 
the  Spanish  blockading  fleet  was  defeated,  the  garri- 
son relieved,  provisioned,  and  reinforced,  and  Eodney 
sailed  in  triumph  for  the  West  Indies. 

For  three  years  the  blockade  was  continued  with 
varying  fortunes,  the  garrison  being  now  on  the 
verge  of  starvation,  now  relieved  by  British  fleets. 
At  the  close  of  the  third  year  it  was  far  stronger 
than  at  the  beginning.  The  effort  to  subdue  it  by 
famine  was  abandoned,  and  preparations  for  a  vigor- 
ous siege  were  made.  France  had  joined  her  forces 
with  those  of  Spain.  The  island  of  Minorca,  held 
by  the  British,  had  been  taken  by  the  allied  fleet, 
and  it  was  thought  impossible  for  Gibraltar  to  resist 
the  projected  assault. 


288  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

The  land  force  that  had  so  long  besieged  the  rock 
was  greatly  strengthened,  new  batteries  were  raised, 
new  trenches  opened,  and  a  severe  fire  was  begun 
upon  the  works.  Yet  so  commanding  was  the  situa- 
tion and  so  strong  were  the  defences  of  the  garrison 
that  success  from  the  land  side  seemed  impossible, 
and  it  was  determined  to  make  the  main  attack  from 
the  sea. 

A  promising  method  of  attack  was  devised  by  a 
French  engineer  of  the  highest  reputation  for  skill 
in  his  profession,  the  Chevalier  D' Argon.  The  plan 
offered  by  him  was  so  original  and  ingenious  as  to 
fill  the  besiegers  with  hopes  of  sure  success,  and  the 
necessary  preparations  were  diligently  made.  Ten 
powerful  floating  batteries  were  constructed,  which 
were  thought  fully  adapted  to  resist  fire,  throw  off 
shells,  and  quench  red-hot  balls.  Every  effort  was 
made  to  render  them  incombustible  and  incapable 
of  being  sunk.  These  formidable  batteries  were 
towed  to  the  bay  of  Gibraltar  and  anchored  at  a 
suitable  distance  from  the  works,  D' Argon  himself 
being  in  command.  Ten  ships  of  the  line  were  sent 
to  co-operate  with  them,  the  arrival  of  reinforce- 
ments from  France  increased  the  land  army  to  forty 
thousand  men,  and  Crillon,  the  conqueror  of  Minorca, 
was  placed  in  supreme  command.  The  allied  fleets 
were  ordered  to  cruise  in  the  straits,  so  as  to  prevent 
interference  by  a  British  fleet. 

These  great  and  scientific  preparations  filled  all 
hearts  with  hope,  j^o  doubt  was  entertained  that 
Gibraltar  now  must  fall  and  Great  Britain  receive 
the  chastisement  she   deserved.     The   nobility  of 


THE   ROCK   OP   GIBRALTAR.  289 

Spain  sought  in  numbers  the  scene  of  action,  eager 
to  be  present  at  the  triumph  of  hei  arms.  From 
Yersailles  came  the  French  princes,  full  of  expecta- 
tion of  witnessing  the  humbling  of  British  pride. 
So  confident  of  success  was  Charles  III.,  king  of 
Spain,  that  his  first  question  every  morning  on 
waking  was,  "  Is  Gibraltar  taken  ?"  All  Spain  and 
all  France  were  instinct  with  hope  of  seeing  the  pride 
of  the  islanders  go  down. 

Gibraltar  was  garrisoned  by  seven  thousand  troops 
under  General  Elliot.  These  lay  behind  fortifica- 
tions on  which  had  been  exhausted  all  the  resources 
of  the  engineering  skill  of  that  day,  and  in  their 
hearts  was  the  fixed  resolve  never  to  surrender.  The 
question  had  become  one  of  national  pride  rather 
than  of  utility.  Gibraltar  was  not  likely  to  prove 
of  any  very  important  advantage  to  Great  Britain, 
but  the  instinct  to  hold  on  has  always  been  with 
that  country  a  national  trait,  and,  however  she  might 
have  been  induced  to  yield  Gibraltar  as  an  act  of 
policy,  she  was  determined  not  to  do  so  as  an  act 
of  war. 

Early  on  the  13th  of  September,  1782,  the  long- 
threatened  bombardment  began  from  so  powerful  a 
park  of  artillery  that  its  roar  is  said  to  have  ex- 
ceeded anything  ever  before  heard.  There  were 
defects  in  the  plan.  The  trenches  on  land  proved  to 
be  too  far  away.  The  water  was  rough  and  the 
gunboats  could  not  assist.  But  the  work  of  the  bat- 
teries came  up  to  the  highest  expectations.  The  fire 
poured  by  them  upon  the  works  was  tremendous, 
while  for  many  hours  the  shells  and  red-hot  balls  of 

19 


290  HISTOEICAL  TALES. 

the  garrison,  fired  with  the  greatest  precision,  proved 
of  no  avail.  The  batteries  seemed  invulnerable  to 
fire  and  shell,  and  the  hopes  of  the  besiegers  rose  to 
the  highest  point,  while  those  of  the  besieged  corre- 
spondingly fell. 

In  the  end  this  powerful  assault  was  defeated  by 
one  of  those  events  to  which  armed  bodies  of  men 
are  always  liable, — a  sudden  and  uncalled-for  spasm 
of  fear  that  flew  like  wildfire  through  fleet  and  camp. 
The  day  had  nearly  passed,  evening  was  approach- 
ing, the  hopes  of  the  allies  were  at  their  height,  when 
a  red-hot  ball  from  the  works  lodged  in  the  nearest 
battery  and  started  a  fire,  which  the  crew  sought  in 
vain  to  quench. 

In  a  sudden  panic,  for  which  there  seems  to  have 
been  no  sufficient  cause,  the  terrified  crew  wet  their 
powder  and  ceased  to  fire  on  the  British  works. 
The  panic  spread  to  the  other  batteries,  and  from 
them  to  the  forces  on  shore,  even  the  commander- 
in-chief  being  aff*ected  by  the  causeless  fear.  At  one 
moment  the  assailants  were  enthusiastic  with  expec- 
tation of  success.  Not  many  minutes  afterwards 
they  were  so  overcome  with  unreasoning  terror  that 
an  insane  order  was  given  to  burn  the  batteries,  and 
these  were  fired  with  such  precipitate  haste  that  the 
crews  were  allowed  no  time  to  escape.  More  of  the 
men  were  saved  by  their  enemies,  who  came  with 
generous  intrepidity  to  their  aid,  than  by  their  own 
terror-stricken  friends. 

This  unfortunate  event  put  a  sudden  end  to  the 
costly  and  promising  eflbrt.  The  nobles  of  Spain 
and  the  princes  of  France  left  the  camp  in  disgust. 


THE   ROCK   OF   GIBRALTAR.  291 

Charles  III.  received  word  that  Gibraltar  was  not 
captured,  and  not  likely  to  be,  and  the  idea  of  taking 
the  stronghold  by  force  was  abandoned,  the  blockade 
being  resumed. 

To  keep  away  British  aid  the  allied  fleet  was  in- 
creased until  it  numbered  forty-seven  ships  of  the 
line,  with  a  considerable  number  of  smaller  vessels. 
Furnaces  were  prepared  to  heat  shot  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  any  transports  and  store-ships  that  might 
enter  the  harbor.  Against  this  great  fleet  Lord 
Howe  appeared  in  October  with  only  thirty  sail, 
and  encumbered  with  a  large  convoy.  The  allied 
leaders  seeing  this  small  force,  felt  sure  of  victory, 
and  of  Gibraltar  as  their  prize. 

But  again  they  were  doomed  to  disappointment. 
The  elements  came  to  the  British  aid.  A  violent 
storm  drove  the  allied  fleet  from  its  anchorage,  dis- 
persed the  vessels,  injured  many  of  the  large  ships, 
and  drove  the  small  craft  ashore.  Lord  Howe, 
whose  ships  were  far  better  handled,  sailed  in  good 
order  through  the  straits,  and  for  five  days  of  rough 
weather  offered  battle  to  the  disabled  enemy,  keep- 
ing them  at  a  distance  while  his  transports  and  store- 
ships  entered  the  harbor  and  supplied  the  garrison 
abundantly  with  provisions,  ammunition,  and  men. 
The  effort  to  take  Gibraltar  was  hopelessly  defeated. 
The  blockade  was  still  kept  up,  but  merely  as  a  sat- 
isfaction to  Spanish  pride.  All  hope  of  taking  the 
fortress  was  at  an  end.  Gibraltar  remains  to-day 
in  British  hands,  and  no  later  attempt  to  take  it  has 
been  made. 


THE  FALL    OF  A  FAVORITE. 


The  course  of  our  work  now  brings  us  down  to 
recent  times.  After  the  death  of  Philip  II.,  in  1598, 
Spain  had  little  history  worth  considering.  Euled 
by  a  succession  of  painfully  weak  kings,  and  clasped 
in  the  fetters  of  a  strangling  bigotry,  the  fortunes 
of  the  realm  ran  steadily  downward.  From  being 
the  strongest,  it  became  in  time  one  of  the  weakest 
and  least  considered  of  European  kingdoms;  and 
from  taking  the  lead  in  the  politics  and  wars  of 
Europe,  it  came  to  be  a  plaything  of  the  neighboring 
nations, — a  catspaw  which  they  used  for  the  advance- 
ment of  their  own  ends. 

It  was  in  this  way  that  Napoleon  treated  Spain. 
He  played  with  it  as  a  cat  plays  with  a  mouse,  and 
when  the  proper  time  came  pounced  upon  it  and 
gathered  it  in.  Charles  IV.,  the  Spanish  king  of 
Napoleon's  time,  was  one  of  the  feeblest  of  his 
weak  line, — an  imbecile  whom  the  emperor  of  France 
counted  no  more  than  a  feather  in  his  path.  He 
sought  to  deal  with  him  as  he  had  done  with  the 
equally  effeminate  king  of  Portugal.  When  a  French 
army  invaded  Portugal  in  1807,  its  weak  monarch 
cut  the  knot  of  the  difficulty  by  taking  ship  and 
crossing  the  ocean  to  Brazil,  abandoning  his  old 
kingdom  and  setting  up  a  new  one  in  the  New 
World.  When  Spain  was  in  its  turn  invaded,  its 
292 


THE  FALL   OF  A   FAVORITE.  293 

king  proposed  to  do  the  same  thing, — to  carry  the 
royal  court  of  Spain  to  America,  and  leave  a  king- 
dom without  a  head  to  ]^apoleon.  Such  an  act 
would  have  exactly  suited  the  purposes  of  the  astute 
conqueror,  but  the  people  rose  in  riot,  and  Charles 
lY.  remained  at  home. 

The  real  ruler  of  Spain  at  that  time  was  a  licen- 
tious and  insolent  favorite  of  the  king  and  queen, 
Emanuel  Godoy  by  name,  who  began  life  as  a  sol- 
dier, was  made  Duke  of  Alcudia  by  his  royal  patrons, 
and  was  appointed  prime  minister  in  1792.  In  1795, 
having  made  peace  with  France  after  a  disastrous 
war,  he  received  the  title  of  "  Prince  of  the  Peace." 
His  administration  was  very  corrupt,  and  he  won 
the  hatred  of  the  nobles,  the  people,  and  the  heir  to 
the  throne.  But  his  influence  over  the  imbecile  king 
and  the  licentious  queen  was  unbounded,  and  he 
could  aiford  to  laugh  in  the  face  of  his  foes.  But 
favorites  are  apt  to  have  a  short  period  of  power, 
and,  though  Godoy  remained  long  in  office,  his  down- 
fall at  length  came. 

Napoleon  had  marched  his  armies  through  Spain 
to  the  conquest  of  Portugal,  no  one  in  Spain  hav- 
ing the  courage  to  object.  It  was  stipulated  that 
a  second  French  army  should  not  cross  the  Pyre- 
nees, but  in  defiance  of  this  Napoleon  filled  the  north 
of  Spain  with  his  troops  in  1808,  and  sent  a  third 
army  across  the  mountains  without  pretence  of  their 
being  needed  in  Portugal.  No  protest  was  made 
against  this  invasion  of  a  neutral  nation.  The 
court  of  Madrid  was  helpless  with  terror,  and,  with 
the  hope   of  propitiating  Napoleon,   admitted  his 


294  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

legions  into  all  the  cities  of  Catalonia,  Biscay,  and 
Navarre. 

Only  one  thing  more  was  needed  to  make  the 
French  masters  of  the  whole  country.  They  held 
the  towns,  but  the  citadels  were  in  possession  of 
Spanish  troops.  These  could  not  be  expelled  by  vio- 
lence while  a  show  of  peace  was  kept  up.  But  Na- 
poleon wanted  them,  and  employed  stratagem  to  get 
them  into  his  hands. 

In  two  of  the  towns,  St.  Sebastian  and  Figueras, 
a  simple  lie  sufficed.  The  officers  in  command  of 
the  French  garrisons  asked  permission  to  quarter 
their  unruly  conscripts  in  the  citadels.  As  the  court 
bad  ordered  that  all  the  wishes  of  the  emperor's 
officers  should  be  gratified,  this  seemingly  innocent 
request  was  granted.  But  in  place  of  conscripts  the 
best  men  of  the  regiments  were  sent,  and  these  were 
gradually  increased  in  numbers  until  in  the  end  they 
overpowered  the  Spanish  garrisons  and  admitted  the 
French. 

At  Pamplona  a  similar  request  was  refused  by  the 
governor  of  the  citadel,  but  he  permitted  sixty  un- 
armed men  daily  to  enter  the  fortress  to  receive 
rations  for  their  respective  divisions.  Here  was  the 
fatal  entering  wedge.  One  night  the  officer  in  charge, 
whose  quarters  were  near  the  citadel  gate,  secretly 
filled  his  house  with  armed  grenadiers.  The  next 
morning  sixty  picked  men,  with  arms  hidden  under 
their  cloaks,  were  sent  in  for  rations.  The  hour  was 
too  early,  and  the  French  soldiers  loitered  about 
under  pretence  of  waiting  for  the  quartermaster. 
Some    sauntered    into    the    Spanish    guard-house. 


I 


THE  FALL  OF  A  FAVORITE.  295 

Others,  by  a  sportive  scuffle  on  the  drawbridge,  pre- 
vented its  being  raised,  and  occupied  the  attention 
of  the  garrison.  Suddenly  a  signal  was  given.  The 
men  drew  their  weapons  and  seized  the  arms  of  the 
Spaniards.  The  grenadiers  rushed  from  their  con- 
cealment. The  bridge  and  gate  were  secured,  French 
troops  hastened  to  the  aid  of  their  comrades,  and 
the  citadel  was  won. 

At  Barcelona  a  different  stratagem  was  employed. 
A  review  of  the  French  forces  was  held  under  the 
walls  of  the  citadel,  whose  garrison  assembled  to 
look  on.  During  the  progress  of  the  review  the 
French  general,  on  pretence  that  he  had  been  or- 
dered from  the  city,  rode  with  his  staff  on  to  the 
drawbridge  with  the  ostensible  purpose  of  bidding 
farewell  to  the  Spanish  commander.  While  the 
Spaniards  curiously  watched  the  manoeuvres  of  the 
troops  others  of  the  French  quietly  gathered  on  the 
drawbridge.  At  a  signal  this  was  seized,  a  rush  took 
place,  and  the  citadel  of  Barcelona  was  added  to  the 
conquests  of  France. 

The  surprise  of  these  fortresses  produced  an  im- 
mense sensation  in  Spain.  That  country  had  sunk 
into  a  condition  of  pitiable  weakness.  Its  navy,  once 
powerful,  was  now  reduced  to  a  small  number  of 
ships,  few  of  them  in  condition  for  service.  Its 
army,  once  the  strongest  in  Europe,  was  now  but  a 
handful  of  poorly  equipped  and  half-drilled  men. 
Its  finances  were  in  a  state  of  frightful  disorgan- 
ization. The  government  of  a  brainless  king,  a 
dissolute  queen,  and  an  incapable  favorite  had 
brought  Spain  into  a  condition  in  which  she  dared 


296  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

not  raise  a  hand  to  resist  the  ambitious  French 
emperor. 

In  this  dilemma  Godoy,  the  so-called  "  Prince  of 
the  Peace,"  persuaded  the  king  and  queen  of  Spain 
that  nothing  was  left  them  but  flight.  The  royal 
house  of  Portugal  had  found  a  great  imperial  realm 
awaiting  it  in  America.  Spain  possessed  there  a 
dominion  of  continental  extent.  What  better  could 
they  do  than  remove  to  the  New  World  the  seat  of 
their  throne  and  cut  loose  from  their  threatened  and 
distracted  realm? 

The  project  was  concealed  under  the  form  of  a 
journey  to  Andalusia,  for  the  purpose,  as  announced 
by  Godoy,  of  inspecting  the  ports.  But  the  exten- 
sive preparations  of  the  court  for  this  journey  aroused 
a  suspicion  of  its  true  purpose  among  the  people, 
whose  indignation  became  extreme  on  finding  that 
they  were  to  be  deserted  by  the  royal  house,  as 
Portugal  had  been.  The  exasperation  of  all  classes 
— the  nobility,  the  middle  class,  and  the  people — 
against  the  court  grew  intense.  It  was  particularly 
developed  in  the  army,  a  body  which  Godoy  had 
badly  treated.  The  army  leaders  argued  that  they 
had  better  welcome  the  French  than  permit  this  dis- 
grace, and  that  it  was  their  duty  to  prevent  by  force 
the  flight  of  the  king. 

But  all  this  did  not  deter  the  Prince  of  the  Peace. 
He  had  several  frigates  made  ready  in  the  port  of 
Cadiz,  the  royal  carriages  were  ordered  to  be  in 
readiness,  and  relays  of  horses  were  provided  on  the 
road.  The  date  of  departure  was  fixed  for  the  15th 
or  16th  of  March,  1808. 


THE   FALL   OF   A    FAVORITE.  297 

On  the  13th  Godoy  made  his  way  from  Madrid  to 
Aranjuez,  a  magnificent  royal  residence  on  the  banks 
of  the  Tagus,  then  occupied  by  the  royal  family. 
This  residence,  in  the  Italian  style  and  surrounded 
by  superb  grounds  and  gardens,  was  fronted  by  a  wide 
highway,  expanding  opposite  the  palace  into  a  spa- 
cious place,  on  which  were  several  fine  mansions  be- 
longing to  courtiers  and  ministers,  one  of  the  finest 
being  occupied  by  the  prime  minister.  In  the  vi- 
cinity a  multitude  of  small  houses,  inhabited  by 
tradesmen  and  shop-keepers,  made  up  the  town  of 
Aranjuez. 

Godoy,  on  arriving  at  Aranjuez,  summoned  a  coun- 
cil of  the  ministers,  the  time  having  arrived  to  ap- 
prise them  of  what  was  proposed.  One  of  them,  the 
Marquis  of  Caballero,  kept  him  waiting,  and  on  his 
arrival  refused  to  consent,  either  by  word  or  signa- 
ture, to  the  flight  of  the  king. 

^'I  order  you  to  sign,"  the  prime  minister  angrily 
exclaimed. 

"  I  take  no  orders  except  from  the  king,"  haugh- 
tily replied  the  marquis. 

A  sharp  altercation  followed,  in  which  the  other 
ministers  took  part,  and  the  meeting  broke  up  in 
disorder,  nothing  being  done.  On  retiring,  the  irate 
counsellors,  full  of  agitation,  dropped  words  which 
were  caught  up  by  the  pubhc  and  aroused  a  com- 
motion that  quickly  spread  throughout  the  town. 
Thence  it  extended  into  the  surrounding  country, 
everywhere  arousing  the  disaffected,  and  soon  strange 
and  sinister  faces  appeared  in  the  quiet  town.  The 
elements  of  a  popular  outbreak  were  gathering. 


298  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

During  the  succeeding  two  days  the  altercation 
between  the  Prince  of  the  Peace  and  the  ministers 
continued,  and  the  public  excitement  was  added  to 
by  words  attributed  to  Ferdinand,  the  king's  son 
and  heir  to  the  throne,  who  was  said  to  have  sought 
aid  against  those  who  proposed  to  carry  him  off 
against  his  will.  On  the  morning  of  the  16th,  the 
final  day  fixed  for  the  journey,  the  public  agitation 
was  so  great  that  the  king  issued  a  proclamation, 
which  was  posted  in  the  streets,  saying  that  he  had 
no  thought  of  leaving  his  people.  It  ended :  "  Span- 
iards, be  easy;  your  king  will  not  leave  you." 

This  for  the  time  calmed  the  people.  Yet  on  the 
17th  the  excitement  reappeared.  The  carriages  re- 
mained loaded  in  the  palace  court-yard ;  the  relays 
of  horses  were  kept  up  ;  all  the  indications  were  sus- 
picious. During  the  day  the  troops  of  the  garrison 
of  Madrid  not  on  duty,  with  a  large  number  of  the 
populace,  appeared  in  Aranjuez,  having  marched  a 
distance  of  seven  or  eight  leagues.  They  shouted 
maledictions  on  their  way  against  the  queen  and  the 
Prince  of  the  Peace. 

The  streets  of  Aranjuez  that  night  were  filled  with 
an  excited  mob,  many  of  them  life-guards  from  Ma- 
drid, who  divided  into  bands  and  patrolled  the  vi- 
cinity of  the  palace,  determined  that  no  one  should 
leave.  About  midnight  an  incident  changed  the 
excitement  into  a  riot.  A  lady  left  Godoy's  resi- 
dence under  escort  of  a  few  soldiers.  She  appeared 
to  be  about  to  enter  a  carriage.  The  crowd  pressed 
closely  around,  and  the  hussars  of  the  minister,  who 
attended  the  lady,  attempted   to  force  a  passage 


THE   FALL  OP  A   FAVORITE.  299 

through  them.  At  this  moment  a  gun  was  fired, — 
by  whom  was  not  known.  A  frightful  tumult  at 
once  arose.  -  The  life-guards  and  other  soldiers  rushed 
upon  the  hussars,  and  a  furious  mob  gathered  around 
the  palace,  shouting,  "  Long  live  the  king  !"  "  Death 
to  the  Prince  of  the  Peace !" 

Soon  a  rush  was  made  towards  the  residence  of 
the  prince,  which  the  throng  surrounded,  gazing  at 
it  with  eyes  of  anger,  yet  hesitating  to  make  an  at- 
tack. As  they  paused  in  doubt,  a  messenger  from 
the  palace  approached  the  mansion  and  sought  ad- 
mission. It  was  refused  from  those  within.  He  in- 
sisted upon  entrance,  and  a  shot  came  from  the  guards 
within.  In  an  instant  all  hesitation  was  at  an  end. 
The  crowd  rushed  in  fury  against  the  doors,  broke 
them  in,  and  swarmed  into  the  building,  driving  the 
guards  back  in  dismay. 

It  was  magnificently  furnished,  but  their  passion 
to  destroy  soon  made  havoc  of  its  furniture  and 
decorations.  Pictures,  hangings,  costly  articles  of 
use  and  ornament  were  torn  down,  dashed  to  pieces, 
flung  from  the  windows.  The  mob  ran  from  room 
to  room,  destroying  everything  of  value  they  met, 
and  eagerly  seeking  the  object  of  their  hatred,  with 
a  passionate  thirst  for  his  life.  The  whole  night 
was  spent  in  the  search,  and,  the  prince  not  being 
found,  his  house  was  reduced  to  a  wreck. 

Word  of  what  was  taking  place  filled  the  weak 
soul  of  Charles  lY.  with  mortal  terror.  The  prince 
failed  to  appear,  and,  by  the  advice  of  the  ministers, 
a  decree  was  issued  by  the  king  on  the  following 
morning  depriving  Emanuel  Godoy  of  the  offices  of 


300  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

grand  admiral  and  generalissimo,  and  exiling  him 
from  the  court. 

Thus  fell  this  detestable  favorite,  the  people,  who 
blamed  him  for  the  degradation  of  Spain,  breaking 
into  a  passionate  joy,  singing,  dancing,  building  bon- 
fires, and  giving  every  manifestation  of  delight.  In 
Madrid,  when  the  news  reached  there,  the  enthusiasm 
approached  delirium. 

Meanwhile,  where  was  the  fallen  favorite?  De- 
spite the  close  search  made  by  the  mob,  he  remained 
concealed  in  his  residence.  Alarmed  by  the  crash 
of  the  breaking  doors,  he  had  seized  a  pistol  and  a 
handful  of  gold,  rushed  up-stairs,  and  hid  himself  in 
a  loft  under  the  roof,  rolling  himself  up  in  a  sort  of 
rush  carpet  used  in  Spain.  Here  he  remained  during 
the  whole  of  the  18th  and  the  succeeding  night,  but 
on  the  morning  of  the  19th,  after  thirty-six  hours' 
suifering,  thirst  and  hunger  forced  him  to  leave  his 
retreat.  He  presented  himself  suddenly  before  a 
sentry  on  duty  in  the  palace,  offering  him  his  gold. 
But  the  man  refused  the  bribe  and  instantly  called 
the  guard.  Fortunately  the  mass  of  the  people 
were  not  near  by.  Some  life-guards  who  just  then 
came  up  placed  the  miserable  captive  between  their 
horses,  and  conveyed  him  as  rapidly  as  they  could 
towards  their  barracks.  But  these  were  at  some 
distance,  the  news  of  the  capture  spread  like  wild- 
fire, and  they  had  not  gone  far  before  the  mob  be- 
gan to  gather  around  them,  their  hearts  full  of  mur- 
derous rage. 

The  prince  was  on  foot  between  two  of  the 
mounted  guardsmen,  leaning  for  shelter  against  the 


THE   FALL   OP   A   FAVORITE.  301 

pommels  of  their  saddles.  Others  of  the  horsemen 
closed  up  in  front  and  rear,  and  did  their  best  to 
protect  him  from  the  fury  of  the  rabble,  who  struck 
wildly  at  him  with  every  weapon  they  had  been  able 
to  snatch  up.  Despite  the  efforts  of  the  guardsmen 
some  of  the  blows  reached  him,  and  he  was  finally 
brought  to  the  barracks  with  his  feet  trodden  by  the 
horses,  a  large  wound  in  his  thigh,  and  one  eye 
nearly  out  of  his  head.  Here  he  was  thrown,  covered 
with  blood,  upon  the  straw  in  the  stables,  a  sad  ex- 
ample of  what  comes  of  the  favor  of  kings  when 
exercised  in  defiance  of  the  will  of  the  people. 
Godoy  had  begun  life  as  a  life-guardsman,  and  now, 
after  almost  sharing  the  throne,  he  had  thus  returned 
to  the  barracks  and  the  straw  bed  of  his  youth. 

We  may  give  in  outline  the  remainder  of  the 
story  of  this  fallen  favorite.  Promise  being  given 
that  he  should  have  an  impartial  trial,  the  mob 
ceased  its  efforts  to  kill  him.  Napoleon,  who  had 
use  for  him,  now  came  to  his  rescue,  and  induced 
him  to  sign  a  deed  under  which  Charles  lY.  abdi- 
cated the  throne  in  favor  of  his  son.  His  posses- 
sions in  Spain  were  confiscated,  but  Charles,  who  re- 
moved to  Eome,  was  his  friend  during  life.  After  the 
death  of  his  protector  he  went  to  Paris,  where  he 
received  a  pension  from  Louis  Philippe  ;  and  in  1847, 
when  eighty  years  of  age,  he  received  permission  to 
return  to  Spain,  his  titles  and  most  of  his  property 
being  restored.  But  he  preferred  to  live  in  Paris, 
where  he  died  in  1851. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  SARAGOSSA. 


On  the  banks  of  the  Ebro,  in  northwestern  Spain, 
stands  the  ancient  city  of  Saragossa,  formerly  the 
capital  of  Aragon,  and  a  place  of  fame  since  early 
Eoman  days.  A  noble  bridge  of  seven  arches,  built 
nearly  five  centuries  ago,  crosses  the  stream,  and  a 
wealth  of  towers  and  spires  gives  the  city  an  im- 
posing appearance.  This  city  is  famous  for  its  sieges, 
of  which  a  celebrated  one  took  place  in  the  twelfth 
century,  when  the  Christians  held  it  in  siege  for  five 
years,  ending  in  1118.  In  the  end  the  Moors  were 
forced  to  surrender,  or  such  of  them  as  survived,  for 
a  great  part  of  them  had  died  of  hunger.  In  modern 
times  it  gained  new  and  high  honor  from  its  cele- 
brated resistance  to  the  French  in  1808.  It  is  this 
siege  with  which  we  are  concerned,  one  almost  with- 
out parallel  in  history. 

We  have  told  in  the  preceding  tale  how  Charles 
IV.  of  Spain  was  forced  to  yield  the  throne  to  his 
son  Ferdinand,  who  was  proclaimed  king  March  20, 
1808.  This  act  by  no  means  agreed  with  the  views 
of  Napoleon,  who  had  plans  of  his  own  for  Spain, 
and  who  sought  to  end  the  difiiculty  by  deposing  the 
Bourbon  royal  family  and  placing  his  own  brother^ 
Joseph  Bonaparte,  on  the  throne. 

The  imperious  emperor  of  the  French  had,  how- 
ever, the  people  as  well  as  the  rulers  of  Spain  to 
302 


THE   SIEGE   OP   SARAGOSSA.  303 

deal  with.  The  news  of  his  arbitrary  action  was 
received  throughout  the  Peninsula  with  intense  in- 
dignation, and  suddenly  the  land  blazed  into  insur- 
rection, and  the  French  garrisons,  which  had  been 
treacherously  introduced  into  Spain,  found  them- 
selves besieged.  Everywhere  the  peasants  seized 
arms  and  took  to  the  field,  and  a  fierce  guerilla  war- 
fare began  which  the  French  found  it  no  easy  matter 
to  overcome.  At  Baylen,  a  town  of  Andalusia,  which 
was  besieged  by  the  insurgents,  the  French  suffered 
a  serious  defeat,  an  army  of  eighteen  thousand  men 
being  forced  to  surrender  as  prisoners  of  war.  This 
was  the  only  important  success  of  the  Spanish,  but 
they  courageously  resisted  their  foes,  and  at  Sara- 
gossa  gained  an  honor  unsurpassed  in  the  history  of 
Spain.  !N"ever  had  there  been  known  such  a  siege 
and  such  a  defence. 

Saragossa  was  attacked  by  General  Lefebre  on 
June  15,  1808.  Thinking  that  a  city  protected  only 
by  a  low  brick  wall,  with  peasants  and  townsmen 
for  its  defenders,  and  few  guns  in  condition  for  ser- 
vice, could  be  carried  at  first  assault,  the  French 
general  made  a  vigorous  attack,  but  found  himself 
driven  back.  He  had  but  four  or  five  thousand  men, 
while  the  town  had  fifty  thousand  inhabitants,  the 
commander  of  the  garrison  being  Joseph  Palafox,  a 
man  of  indomitable  spirit. 

Lefebre,  perceiving  that  he  had  been  over-con- 
fident, now  encamped  and  awaited  reinforcements, 
which  arrived  on  the  29th,  increasing  his  force  to 
twelve  thousand  men.  He  was  recalled  for  service 
elsewhere.  General  Yerdier  being  left  in  command, 


304  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

and  during  the  succeeding  two  months  the  siege  was 
vigorously  prosecuted,  the  French  being  supplied 
with  a  large  siege  train,  with  which  they  hotly  bom- 
barded the  city. 

Weak  as  were  the  walls  of  Saragossa,  interiorly 
it  was  remarkably  well  adapted  for  defence.  The 
houses  were  strongly  built,  of  incombustible  material, 
they  being  usually  of  two  stories,  each  story  vaulted 
and  practically  fireproof.  Every  house  had  its  gar- 
rison, and  the  massive  convents  which  rose  like 
castles  within  the  circuit  of  the  wall  were  filled  with 
armed  men.  Usually  when  the  walls  of  a  city  are 
taken  the  city  falls ;  but  this  was  by  no  means  the 
case  with  Saragossa.  The  loss  of  its  walls  was  but 
the  beginning,  not  the  end,  of  its  defence.  Each 
convent,  each  house,  formed  a  separate  fortress. 
The  walls  were  loop-holed  for  musketry,  ramparts 
were  constructed  of  sand-bags,  and  beams  were  raised 
endwise  against  the  houses  to  afi'ord  shelter  from 
shells. 

It  was  not  until  August  that  the  French,  now 
fifteen  thousand  strong,  were  able  to  force  their  way 
into  the  city.  But  to  enter  the  city  was  not  to  cap- 
ture it.  They  had  to  fight  their  way  from  street  to 
street  and  from  house  to  house.  At  length  the  as- 
sailants penetrated  to  the  Cosso,  a  public  walk  formed 
on  the  line  of  the  old  Moorish  ramparts,  but  here 
their  advance  was  checked,  the  citizens  defending 
themselves  with  the  most  desperate  and  unyielding 
energy. 

The  singular  feature  of  this  defence  was  that  the 
women  of  Saragossa  took  as  active  a  part  in  it  as 


THE   SIEGE   OF   SARAGOSSA.  305 

the  men.  The  Countess  Burita,  a  beautiful  young 
woman  of  intrepid  spirit,  took  the  lead  in  forming 
her  fellow-women  into  companies,  at  whose  head 
were  ladies  of  the  highest  rank.  These,  undeterred 
by  the  hottest  fire  and  freely  braving  wounds  and 
death,  carried  provisions  to  the  combatants,  removed 
the  wounded  to  the  hospitals,  and  were  everywhere 
active  in  deeds  of  mercy  and  daring.  One  of  them, 
a  young  woman  of  low  rank  but  intrepid  soul,  gained 
world-wide  celebrity  by  an  act  of  unusual  courage 
and  presence  of  mind. 

While  engaged  one  day  in  her  regular  duty,  that 
of  carrying  meat  and  wine  to  the  defenders  of  a 
battery,  she  found  it  deserted  and  the  guns  aban- 
doned. The  French  fire  had  proved  so  murderous 
that  the  men  had  shrunk  back  in  mortal  dread. 
Snatching  a  match  from  the  hand  of  a  dead  artillery- 
man, the  brave  girl  fired  his  gun,  and  vowed  that  she 
would  never  leave  it  while  a  Frenchman  remained 
in  Saragossa.  Her  daring  shamed  the  men,  who 
returned  to  their  guns,  but,  as  the  story  goes,  the 
brave  girl  kept  her  vow,  working  the  gun  she  had 
chosen  until  she  had  the  joy  to  see  the  French  in 
full  retreat.  This  took  place  on  the  14th  of  August, 
when  the  populace,  expecting  nothing  but  to  die 
amid  the  ruins  of  their  houses,  beheld  with  delight 
the  enemy  in  full  retreat.  The  obstinate  resistance 
of  the  people  and  reverses  to  the  arms  of  France 
elsewhere  had  forced  them  to  raise  the  siege. 

The  deeds  of  the  "  Maid  of  Saragossa"  have  been 
celebrated  in  poetry  by  Byron  and  Southey  and  in 
art  by  Wilkie,  and  she  stands  high  on  the  roll  of 

20 


306  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

heroic  women,  being  given,  as  some  declare,  a  more 
elevated  position  than  her  exploit  deserved. 

Saragossa,  however,  was  only  reprieved,  not  aban- 
doned. The  French  found  themselves  too  busily  oc- 
cupied elsewhere  to  attend  to  this  centre  of  Spanish 
valor  until  months  had  passed.  At  length,  after  the 
defeat  and  retreat  of  Sir  John  Moore  and  the  Eng- 
lish allies  of  Spain,  a  powerful  army,  thirty-five 
thousand  strong,  returned  to  the  city  on  the  Ebro, 
with  a  battering  train  of  sixty  guns. 

Palafox  remained  in  command  in  the  city,  which 
was  now  much  more  strongly  fortified  and  better 
prepared  for  defence.  The  garrison  was  super- 
abundant. From  the  field  of  battle  at  Tudela,  where 
the  Spaniards  had  suff*ered  a  severe  defeat,  a  stream 
of  soldiers  fled  to  Saragossa,  bringing  with  them 
wagons  and  military  stores  in  abundance.  As  the 
fugitives  passed,  the  villagers  along  the  road,  moved 
by  terror,  joined  them,  and  into  the  gates  of  the  city 
poured  a  flood  of  soldiers,  camp-followers,  and  peas- 
ants, until  it  was  thronged  with  human  beings.  Last 
of  all  came  the  French,  reaching  the  city  on  the  20th 
of  December,  and  resuming  their  interrupted  siege. 
And  now  Saragossa,  though  destined  to  fall,  was  to 
cover  itself  with  undying  glory. 

The  townsmen,  giving  up  every  thought  of  per- 
sonal property,  devoted  all  their  goods,  their  houses, 
and  their  persons  to  the  war,  mingling  with  the  sol- 
diers and  the  peasants  to  form  one  great  garrison  for 
the  fortress  into  which  the  whole  city  was  trans- 
formed. In  all  quarters  of  the  city  massive  churches 
and  convents  rose  like  citadels,  the  various  large 


THE   SIEGE   OF   SARAGOSSA.  307 

streets  running  into  the  broad  avenue  called  the 
Cosso,  and  dividing  the  city  into  a  number  of  dis- 
tricts, each  with  its  large  and  massive  structures, 
well  capable  of  defence. 

'Not  only  these  thick-walled  buildings,  but  all  the 
houses,  were  converted  into  forts,  the  doors  and  win- 
dows being  built  up,  the  fronts  loop-holed,  and  open- 
ings for  communication  broken  through  the  party- 
walls  ;  while  the  streets  were  defended  by  trenches 
and  earthen  ramparts  mounted  with  cannon.  Never 
before  was  there  such  an  instance  of  a  whole  city 
converted  into  a  fortress,  the  thickness  of  the  ram- 
parts being  here  practically  measured  by  the  whole 
width  of  the  city. 

Saragossa  had  been  a  royal  depot  for  saltpetre,  and 
powder-mills  near  by  had  taught  many  of  its  people 
the  process  of  manufacture,  so  no  magazines  of 
powder  subject  to  explosion  were  provided,  this  in- 
dispensable substance  being  made  as  it  was  needed. 
Outside  the  walls  the  trees  were  cut  down  and  the 
houses  demolished,  so  that  they  might  not  shield  the 
enemy ;  the  public  magazines  contained  six  months' 
provisions,  the  convents  and  houses  were  well 
stocked,  and  every  preparation  was  made  for  a  long 
siege  and  a  vigorous  defence. 

Again,  as  before,  companies  of  women  were  en- 
rolled to  attend  the  wounded  in  the  hospitals  and 
carry  food  and  ammunition  to  the  men,  the  Countess 
Burita  being  once  more  their  commander,  and  per- 
forming her  important  duty  with  a  heroism  and  high 
intelligence  worthy  of  the  utmost  praise.  Not  less 
than  fifty  thousand   combatants  within   the  walls 


308  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

faced  the  thirty-five  thousand  French  soldiers  with- 
out,  who  had  before  them  the  gigantic  task  of  over- 
coming a  city  in  which  every  dwelling  was  a  fort 
and  every  family  a  garrison. 

A  month  and  more  passed  before  the  walls  were 
taken.  Steadily  the  French  guns  played  on  these 
defences,  breach  after  breach  was  made,  a  number 
of  the  encircling  convents  were  entered  and  held,  and 
by  the  Ist  of  February  the  walls  and  outer  strong- 
holds of  the  city  were  lost.  Ordinarily,  under  such 
circumstances,  the  city  would  have  fallen,  but  here 
the  work  of  the  assailants  had  but  fairly  begun. 
The  inner  defences — the  houses  with  their  unyield- 
ing garrisons — stood  intact,  and  a  terrible  task  still 
faced  the  French. 

The  war  was  now  in  the  city  streets,  the  houses 
nearest  the  posts  held  by  the  enemy  were  crowded 
with  defenders,  in  every  quarter  the  alarm-bells 
called  the  citizens  to  their  duty,  new  barricades  rose 
in  the  streets,  mines  were  sunk  in  the  open  spaces, 
and  the  internal  passages  from  house  to  house  were 
increased  until  the  whole  city  formed  a  vast  laby- 
rinth, throughout  which  the  defenders  could  move 
under  cover. 

Marshall  Lannes,  the  French  commander,  viewed 
with  dread  and  doubt  the  scene  before  him.  Un- 
trained in  the  art  of  war  as  were  the  bulk  of  the 
defenders,  courage  and  passionate  patriotism  made 
up  for  all  deficiencies.  Men  like  these,  heedless  of 
death  in  their  determined  defence,  were  dangerous 
to  meet  in  open  battle,  and  the  prudent  Frenchman 
resolved  to  employ  the  slow  but  surer  process  of 


THE   SIEGE   OF    SARAGOSSA.  309 

excavating  a  passage  and  fighting  his  way  through 
house  after  house  until  the  city  should  be  taken 
piecemeal. 

Mining  through  the  houses  was  not  sufficient. 
The  greater  streets  divided  the  city  into  a  number 
of  small  districts,  the  group  of  dwellings  in  each  of 
which  forming  a  separate  stronghold.  To  cross  these 
streets  it  was  necessary  to  construct  underground 
galleries,  or  build  traverses,  since  a  Spanish  battery 
raked  each  street,  and  each  house  had  to  be  fought 
for  and  taken  separately. 

While  the  Spaniards  held  the  convents  and 
churches  the  capture  of  the  houses  by  the  French 
was  of  little  service  to  them,  the  defenders  making 
sudden  and  successful  sallies  from  these  strong  build- 
ings, and  countermining  their  enemies,  their  numbers 
and  perseverance  often  frustrating  the  superior  skill 
of  the  French.  The  latter,  therefore,  directed  their 
attacks  upon  these  buildings,  mining  and  destroying 
many  of  them.  On  the  other  hand,  the  defenders 
saturated  with  rosin  and  pitch  the  timbers  of  the 
buildings  they  could  no  longer  hold,  and  interposed 
a  barrier  of  fire  between  themselves  and  their  as- 
sailants which  often  delayed  them  for  several  days. 

Step  by  step,  inch  by  inch,  the  French  made  their 
way  forward,  complete  destruction  alone  enabling 
them  to  advance.  The  fighting  was  incessant.  The 
explosion  of  mines,  the  crash  of  falling  buildings,  the 
roar  of  cannon  and  musketry,  the  shouts  of  the  com- 
batants continually  filled  the  air,  while  a  cloud  of 
smoke  and  dust  hung  constantly  over  the  city  as  the 
terrible  scene  of  warfare  continued  day  after  day. 


310  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

By  the  17th  of  February  the  Cosso  was  reached 
and  passed.  But  the  French  soldiers  had  become 
deeply  discouraged  by  their  fifty  days  of  unremit- 
ting labor  and  battle,  fighting  above  and  beneath 
the  earth,  facing  an  enemy  as  bold  as  themselves 
and  much  more  numerous,  and  with  half  the  city 
still  to  be  conquered.  Only  the  obstinate  determina- 
tion of  Marshal  Lannes  kept  them  to  their  work. 

By  his  orders  a  general  assault  was  made  on  the 
18th.  Under  the  university,  a  large  building  in  the 
Cosso,  mines  containing  three  thousand  pounds  of 
powder  were  exploded,  the  walls  falling  with  a  ter- 
rific crash.  Meanwhile,  fifty  pieces  of  artillery  were 
playing  on  the  side  of  the  Ebro,  where  the  great 
convent  of  St.  Lazar  was  breached  and  taken,  two 
thousand  men  being  here  cut  off  from  the  city.  On 
the  19th  other  mines  were  exploded,  and  on  the  20th 
six  great  mines  under  the  Cosso,  loaded  with  thou- 
sands of  pounds  of  powder,  whose  explosion  would 
have  caused  immense  destruction,  were  ready  for  the 
match,  when  an  offer  to  surrender  brought  the  ter- 
rible struggle  to  an  end. 

The  case  had  become  one  of  surrender  or  death. 
The  bombardment,  incessant  since  the  10th  of  Janu- 
ary, had  forced  the  women  and  children  into  the 
vaults,  which  were  abundant  in  Saragossa.  There 
the  closeness  of  the  air,  the  constant  burning  of  oil, 
and  the  general  unsanitary  conditions  had  given  rise 
to  a  pestilence  which  threatened  to  carry  off  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  city.  Such  was  the  state  of  the 
atmosphere  that  slight  wounds  became  fatal,  and 
many  of  the  defenders  of  the  barricades  were  fit  only 


THE   SIEGE  OF  SARAGOSSA.  311 

for  the  hospitals.  By  the  1st  of  February  the  death- 
rate  had  become  enormous.  The  daily  deaths  num- 
bered nearly  five  hundred,  and  thousands  of  corpses, 
which  it  was  impossible  to  bury,  lay  in  the  streets 
and  houses,  and  in  heaps  at  the  doors  of  the  churches, 
infecting  the  air  with  their  decay.  The  French  held 
the  suburbs,  most  of  the  wall,  and  one-fourth  of  the 
houses,  while  the  bursting  of  thousands  of  shells  and 
the  explosion  of  nearly  fifty  thousand  pounds  of  gun- 
powder in  mines  had  shaken  the  city  to  its  founda- 
tions. Of  the  hundred  thousand  people  who  had 
gathered  within  its  walls,  more  than  fifty  thousand 
were  dead;  thousands  of  others  would  soon  follow 
them  to  the  grave ;  Palafox,  their  indomitable  chief, 
was  sick  unto  death.  Yet  despite  this  there  was  a 
strong  and  energetic  party  who  wished  to  protract 
the  siege,  and  the  deputies  appointed  to  arrange 
terms  of  surrender  were  in  peril  of  their  lives. 

The  terms  granted  were  that  the  garrison  should 
march  out  with  the  honors  of  war,  to  be  taken  as 
prisoners  to  France ;  the  peasants  should  be  sent  to 
their  homes ;  the  rights  of  property  and  exercise  of 
religion  should  be  guaranteed. 

Thus  ended  one  of  the  most  remarkable  sieges  on 
record, — remarkable  alike  for  the  energy  and  per- 
sistence of  the  attack  and  the  courage  and  obstinacy 
of  the  defence.  Never  in  all  history  has  any  other 
city  stood  out  so  long  after  its  walls  had  fallen. 
Earely  has  any  city  been  so  adapted  to  a  protracted 
defence.  Had  not  its  houses  been  nearly  incombus- 
tible it  would  have  been  reduced  to  ashes  by  the 
bombardment.     Had  not  its  churches  and  convents 


312  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

possessed  the  strength  of  forts  it  must  have  quickly 
yielded.  Had  not  the  people  been  animated  by  an 
extraordinary  enthusiasm,  in  which  women  did  the 
work  of  men,  a  host  of  peasants  and  citizens  could 
not  so  long  have  endured  the  terrors  of  assault  on 
the  one  hand  and  of  pestilence  on  the  other.  In  the 
words  of  General  Napier,  the  historian  of  the  Penin- 
sular War,  "  When  the  other  events  of  the  Spanish 
war  shall  be  lost  in  the  obscurity  of  time,  or  only 
traced  by  disconnected  fragments,  the  story  of  Zara- 
goza,  like  some  ancient  triumphal  pillar  standing 
amidst  ruins,  will  tell  a  tale  of  past  glory." 


THE  HERO   OF  THE  CARLISTS. 


Spain  for  years  past  has  had  its  double  king, — a 
king  in  possession  and  a  king  in  exile,  a  holder  of 
the  throne  and  an  aspirant  to  the  throne.  For  the 
greater  part  of  a  century  one  has  rarely  heard  of 
Spain  without  hearing  of  the  Carlists,  for  continually 
since  1830  there  has  been  a  princely  claimant  named 
Charles,  or  Don  Carlos,  struggling  for  the  crown. 

Ferdinand  YII.,  who  succeeded  to  the  throne  on 
the  abdication  of  Charles  lY.  in  1808,  made  every 
effort  to  obtain  an  heir.  Three  wives  he  had  with- 
out a  child,  and  his  brother,  Don  Carlos,  naturally 
hoped  to  succeed  him.  But  the  persistent  king  mar- 
ried a  fourth  time,  and  this  time  a  daughter  was  born 
to  him.  There  was  a  law  excluding  females  from 
the  throne,  but  this  law  had  been  abrogated  by  Fer- 
dinand to  please  his  wife,  and  thus  the  birth  of  his 
daughter  robbed  Don  Carlos  of  his  hopes  of  becom- 
ing king. 

Ferdinand  died  in  1833,  and  the  infant  Isabella 
was  proclaimed  queen,  with  her  mother  as  regent. 
The  liberals  supported  her,  the  absolutists  gathered 
around  Don  Carlos,  and  for  years  there  was  a  bitter 
struggle  in  Spain,  the  strength  of  the  Carlists  being 
in  the  Basque  provinces  and  Spanish  Navarre, — a 
land  of  mountaineers,  loyal  in  nature  and  conserva- 
tive by  habit. 

313 


314  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

The  dynasty  of  the  pretender  has  had  three  suc- 
cessive claimants  to  the  throne.  The  first  Don  Carlos 
abdicated  in  1844,  and  was  succeeded  by  Don  Carlos 
the  Second,  his  son.  He  died  in  1861,  and  his  cousin, 
Don  Carlos  the  Third,  succeeded  to  the  claim,  and 
renewed  the  struggle  for  the  crown.  It  was  this 
third  of  the  name  that  threatened  to  renew  the  in- 
surrection during  the  Spanish-American  war  of  1898. 

This  explanation  is  necessary  to  make  clear  what 
is  known  by  Carlism  in  Spain.  Many  as  have  been 
the  Carlist  insurrections,  they  have  had  but  one  leader 
of  ability,  one  man  capable  of  bringing  them  suc- 
cess. This  was  the  famous  Basque  chieftain  Zu- 
malacarregui,  the  renowned  "  Uncle  Tomas"  of  the 
Carlists,  whose  brilliant  career  alone  breaks  the  dull 
monotony  of  Spanish  history  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, and  who  would  in  all  probability  have  placed 
Don  Carlos  on  the  throne  but  for  his  death  from  a 
mortal  wound  in  1835.  Since  then  Carlism  has 
struggled  on  with  little  hope  of  success. 

NaTarre,  the  chief  seat  of  the  insurrection,  borders 
on  the  chain  of  the  Pyrenees,  and  is  a  wild  confusion 
of  mountains  and  hills,  where  the  traveller  is  con- 
fused in  a  labyrinth  of  long  and  narrow  valleys,  deep 
glens,  and  rugged  rocks  and  cliffs.  The  mountains 
are  highest  in  the  north,  but  nowhere  can  horsemen 
proceed  the  day  through  without  dismounting,  and 
in  many  localities  even  foot  travel  is  very  difficult. 
In  passing  from  village  to  village  long  and  winding 
roads  must  be  traversed,  the  short  cuts  across  the 
mountains  being  such  as  only  a  goat  or  a  Navarrese 
can  tread. 


THE   HERO   OF   THE   CARLISTS.  315 

Eegular  troops,  in  traversing  this  rugged  country, 
are  exhausted  by  the  shortest  marches,  while  the 
people  of  the  region  go  straight  through  wood  and 
ravine^  plunging  into  the  thick  forests  and  following 
narrow  paths,  through  which  pursuit  is  impossible, 
and  where  an  invading  force  does  not  dare  to  send 
out  detachments  for  fear  of  having  them  cut  off  by 
a  sudden  guerilla  attack.  It  was  here  and  in  the 
Basque  provinces  to  the  west,  with  their  population 
of  hardy  and  daring  mountaineers,  that  the  troops 
of  IS'apoleon  found  themselves  most  annoyed  by  the 
bold  guerilla  chiefs,  and  here  the  Carlist  forces  long 
defied  the  armies  of  the  crown. 

Tomas  Zumalacarregui,  the  "  modern  Cid,"  as  his 
chief  historian  entitles  him,  was  a  man  of  high  mili- 
tary genius,  rigid  in  discipline,  skilful  in  administra- 
tion, and  daring  in  leadership ;  a  stern,  grave  soldier, 
to  whose  face  a  smile  rarely  came  except  when  shots 
were  falling  thick  around  him  and  when  his  staff 
appeared  as  if  they  would  have  preferred  music  of 
a  different  kind.  To  this  intrepid  chief  fear  seemed 
unknown,  prudence  in  battle  unthought  of,  and  so 
many  were  his  acts  of  rashness  that  when  a  bullet 
at  length  reached  him  it  seemed  a  miracle  that  he 
had  escaped  so  long.  The  white  charger  which  he 
rode  became  such  a  mark  for  the  enemy,  from  its 
frequent  appearance  at  the  head  of  a  charging  troop 
or  in  rallying  a  body  of  skirmishers,  that  all  those 
of  a  similar  color  ridden  by  members  of  his  staff 
were  successively  shot,  though  his  always  escaped. 
On  more  than  one  occasion  he  brought  victory  out 
of  doubt,  or  saved  his  little  army  in  retreat,  by  an 


316  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

act  of  hare-brained  bravery.  Such  was  the  "  Uncle 
Tomas"  of  the  Navarrese,  the  darling  of  the  moun- 
taineers, the  man  who  would  very  likely  have  brought 
final  victory  to  their  cause  had  not  death  cut  him 
off  in  the  midst  of  his  career. 

Few  were  the  adherents  of  Don  Carlos  when  this 
able  soldier  placed  himself  at  their  head, — a  feeble 
remnant  hunted  like  a  band  of  robbers  among  their 
native  mountains.  When  he  appeared  in  1833,  es- 
caping from  Madrid,  where  he  was  known  as  a  brave 
soldier  and  an  opponent  of  the  queen,  he  found  but 
the  fragment  of  an  insurgent  army  in  Navarre.  All 
he  could  gather  under  his  banner  were  about  eight 
hundred  half-armed  and  undisciplined  men, — a  sorry 
show  with  which  to  face  an  army  of  over  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  thousand  men,  many  of  them  vet- 
erans of  the  recent  wars.  These  were  thrown  in 
successive  waves  against  Uncle  Tomas  and  his  hand- 
ful of  followers,  reinforcement  following  reinforce- 
ment, general  succeeding  general,  even  the  redoubt- 
able Mina  among  them,  each  with  a  new  plan  to 
crush  the  Carlist  chief,  yet  each  disastrously  fail- 
ing. 

Beginning  with  eight  hundred  badly  armed  peas- 
ants and  fourteen  horses,  the  gallant  leader  had  at 
the  time  of  his  death  a  force  of  twenty-eight  thou- 
sand well-organized  and  disciplined  infantry  and 
eight  hundred  horsemen,  with  twenty-eight  pieces 
of  artillery  and  twelve  thousand  spare  muskets,  all 
won  by  his  good  sword  from  the  foe, — his  arsenal 
being,  as  he  expressed  it,  "  in  the  ranks  of  the  en- 
emy."    During  these  two  years  of  incessant  war 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  CARLISTS.         317 

more  than  fifty  thousand  of  the  army  of  Spain,  in- 
cluding a  very  large  number  of  officers,  had  fallen  in 
I^avarre,  sixteen  fortified  places  had  been  taken,  and 
the  cause  of  Don  Carlos  was  advancing  by  leaps 
and  bounds.  The  road  to  Madrid  lay  open  to  the 
Carlist  hero  when,  at  the  siege  of  Bilboa,  a  distant 
and  nearly  spent  shot  struck  him,  inflicting  a  wound 
from  which  he  soon  died.  With  the  fall  of  Zuma- 
lacarregui  fell  the  Carlist  cause.  Weak  hands 
seized  the  helm  from  which  his  strong  one  had  been 
struck,  incompetency  succeeded  genius,  and  three 
years  more  of  a  weakening  struggle  brought  the 
contest  to  an  end.  In  all  later  revivals  of  the  insur- 
rection it  has  never  gained  a  hopeful  stand,  and  with 
the  fall  of  "  Uncle  Tomas"  the  Carlist  claim  to  the 
throne  seemingly  received  its  death-blow. 

The  events  of  the  war  between  the  l!^avarrese  and 
their  opponents  were  so  numerous  that  it  is  not  easy 
to  select  one  of  special  interest  from  the  mass.  We 
shall  therefore  speak  only  of  the  final  incidents  of 
Zumalacarregui's  career.  Among  the  later  events 
was  the  siege  and  capture  of  Yillafranca.  Espartero, 
the  Spanish  general,  led  seven  thousand  men  to  the 
relief  of  this  place,  marching  them  across  the  moun- 
tains on  a  dark  and  stormy  night  with  the  hope  of 
taking  the  Carlists  by  surprise.  But  Uncle  Tomas 
was  not  the  man  to  be  taken  unawares,  and  reversed 
the  surprise,  striking  Espartero  with  a  small  force  in 
the  darkness,  and  driving  back  his  men  in  confusion 
and  dismay.  Eighteen  hundred  prisoners  were 
taken,  and  the  general  himself  narrowly  escaped. 
General  Mirasol  was  taken,  with  all  his  staff,  in  a 


318  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

road-side  house,  from  which  he  made  an  undignified 
escape.  He  was  a  small  man,  and  by  turning  up  his 
embroidered  cuffs,  these  being  the  only  marks  of  the 
grade  of  brigadier-general  in  the  Spanish  army^  he 
concealed  his  rank.  He  told  his  captors  that  he  was 
a  tambor.  In  their  anxiety  to  capture  officers  the 
soldiers  considered  a  drummer  too  small  game,  and 
dismissed  the  general  with  a  sound  kick  to  the 
custody  of  those  outside.  As  these  had  more 
prisoners  than  they  could  well  manage,  he  easily 
escaped. 

On  learning  of  the  defeat  of  Espartero  the  city 
surrendered.  The  news  of  the  fall  of  Yillafranca 
had  an  important  effect,  the  city  of  Tolosa  being 
abandoned  by  its  garrison  and  Burgera  surrendered, 
though  it  was  strongly  garrisoned.  Here  Charles  Y. 
— as  Don  Carlos  was  styled  by  his  party — made  a 
triumphal  entry.  He  was  then  at  the  summit  of  his 
fortunes  and  full  of  aspiring  hopes.  Eybar  was 
next  surrendered,  the  garrison  of  Durango  fled,  and 
Salvatierra  was  evacuated. 

Yictory  seemed  to  have  perched  upon  the  banners 
of  the  Navarrese,  town  after  town  falling  in  rapid 
succession  into  their  hands,  and  the  crown  of  Spain 
appeared  likely  soon  to  change  hands.  Zumalacar- 
regui  proposed  next  to  march  upon  Yittoria,  which 
had  been  abandoned  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
battalions,  and  thence  upon  the  important  city  of 
Burgos,  where  he  would  either  force  the  enemy  to 
a  battle  or  move  forward  upon  Madrid.  So  rapid 
and  signal  had  been  his  successes  that  consternation 
filled  the  army  of  the  queen,  the  soldiers  being  in 


THE    HERO   OF   THE   CARLISTS.  319 

such  terror  that  little  opposition  was  feared.  Bets 
ran  high  in  the  Carlist  army  that  six  weeks  would 
see  them  in  Madrid,  and  any  odds  could  have  been 
had  that  they  would  be  there  within  two  months. 
Such  was  the  promising  state  of  affairs  when  the 
impolitic  interference  of  Don  Carlos  led  to  a  turn  in 
the  tide  of  his  fortune  and  the  overthrow  of  his 
cause. 

What  he  wanted  most  was  money.  His  military 
chest  was  empty.  In  the  path  of  the  army  lay  the 
rich  mercantile  city  of  Bilboa.  Its  capture  would 
furnish  a  temporary  supply.  He  insisted  that  the 
army,  instead  of  crossing  the  Ebro  and  taking  full 
advantage  of  the  panic  of  the  enemy,  should  at- 
tack this  place.  This  Zumalacarregui  strongly 
opposed. 

"  Can  you  take  it  ?"  asked  Carlos. 

"  I  can  take  it,  but  it  will  be  at  an  immense  sacri- 
fice, not  so  much  of  men  as  of  time,  which  now  is 
precious,"  was  the  reply. 

Don  Carlos  insisted,  and  the  general,  sorely  against 
his  will,  complied.  The  movement  was  not  only  un- 
wise in  itself,  it  led  to  an  accident  that  brought  to  an 
end  all  the  fair  promise  of  success. 

The  siege  was  begun.  Zumalacarregui,  anxious  to 
save  time,  determined  to  take  the  place  by  storm  as 
soon  as  a  practicable  breach  should  be  made,  and  on 
the  morning  of  the  day  he  had  fixed  for  the  assault 
he,  with  his  usual  daring,  stepped  into  the  balcony  of 
a  building  not  far  from  the  walls  to  inspect  the  state 
of  affairs  with  his  glass. 

On  seeing  a  man  thus  exposed,  evidently  a  supe- 


320  HISTORICAL  TALES. 

rior  officer,  to  judge  from  his  telescope  and  the  black 
fur  jacket  he  wore,  all  the  men  within  that  part  of 
the  walls  opened  fire  on  him.  The  general  soon 
came  out  of  the  balcony  limping  in  a  way  that  at 
once  created  alarm,  and,  unable  to  conceal  his  lame- 
ness, he  admitted  that  he  was  wounded.  A  bullet, 
glancing  from  one  of  the  bars  of  the  balcony  win- 
dow, had  struck  him  in  the  calf  of  the  right  leg, 
fracturing  the  small  bone  and  dropping  two  or  three 
inches  lower  in  the  flesh. 

The  wound  appeared  but  trifling, — the  slight  hurt 
of  a  spent  ball, — but  the  surgeons,  disputing  as  to 
the  policy  of  extracting  the  ball,  did  nothing,  not 
even  dressing  the  wound  till  the  next  morning.  It 
was  of  slight  importance,  they  said.  He  would  be 
on  horseback  within  a  month,  perhaps  in  two  weeks. 
The  wounded  man  was  not  so  sanguine. 

"  The  pitcher  goes  to  the  well  till  it  breaks  at  last," 
he  said.  "  Two  months  more  and  I  would  not  have 
cared  for  any  sort  of  wound." 

Those  two  months  might  have  put  Don  Carlos  on 
the  throne  and  changed  the  history  of  Spain.  In 
eleven  days  the  general  was  dead  and  a  change  had 
come  over  the  spirit  of  afi*airs.  The  operations 
against  Bilboa  languished,  the  garrison  regained 
their  courage,  the  plan  of  storming  the  place  was  set 
aside,  the  queen's  troops,  cheered  by  tidings  of  the 
death  of  the  "terrible  Zumalacarregui,"  took  heart 
again  and  marched  to  the  reHef  of  the  city.  Their 
advance  ended  in  the  siege  being  raised,  and  in  the 
first  encounter  after  the  death  of  their  redoubtable 
chief  the  Carhsts  met  with  defeat.    The  decline  in 


THE  HERO  OF  THE  CARLISTS.         321 

the  fortunes  of  Don  Carlos  had  begun.  One  man 
had  lifted  them  from  the  lowest  ebb  almost  to  the 
pinnacle  of  success.  With  the  fall  of  Zumalacarregui 
Carlism  received  a  death-blow  in  Spain,  for  there  is 
little  hope  that  one  of  this  dynasty  of  claimants  will 
ever  reach  the  throne. 


MANILA  AND  SANTIAGO. 

The  record  of  Spain  has  not  been  glorious  at  sea. 
She  has  but  one  great  victory,  that  of  Lepanto,  to 
offer  in  evidence  against  a  number  of  great  defeats, 
such  as  those  of  the  Armada,  Cape  St.  Yincent,  and 
Trafalgar.  In  1898  two  more  defeats,  those  of  Ma- 
nila and  Santiago,  were  added  to  the  list,  and  with 
an  account  of  these  our  series  of  tales  from  Spanish 
history  may  fitly  close. 

Exactly  three  centuries  passed  from  the  death  of 
Philip  II.  (1598)  to  that  of  the  war  with  the  United 
States,  and  during  that  long  period  the  tide  of  Span- 
ish affairs  moved  steadily  downward.  At  its  be- 
ginning Spain  exercised  a  powerful  influence  over 
European  politics ;  at  its  end  she  was  looked  upon 
with  disdainful  pity  and  had  no  longer  a  voice  in 
continental  affairs.  Such  was  the  inevitable  result 
of  an  attempt  to  run  a  great  nation  on  the  wheels 
of  bigotry  and  fanaticism.  It  could  not  fail  to  sink 
into  the  slough  of  ignorance  and  conservatism  at 
the  end. 

In  her  colonial  affairs  Spain  was  as  intolerant  and 
oppressive  as  in  religious  matters  at  home.  When 
the  other  nations  of  Europe  were  loosening  the  reins 
of  their  colonial  policy,  Spain  kept  hers  unyieldingly 
rigid.  Colonial  revolution  was  the  result,  and  she 
lost  all  her  possessions  in  America  but  the  islands 
322 


MANILA  AND   SANTIAGO.  323 

of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico.  Yet  she  had  learned  no 
lesson, — she  seemed  incapable  of  profiting  by  expe- 
rience,— and  the  old  policy  of  tyranny  and  rapacity 
was  exercised  over  these  islands  until  Cuba,  the 
largest  of  them,  was  driven  into  insurrection. 

In  attempting  to  suppress  this  insurrection  Spain 
adopted  the  cruel  methods  she  had  exercised  against 
the  Moriscos  in  the  sixteenth  century,  ignoring  the 
fact  that  the  twentieth  century  was  near  its  dawn, 
and  that  a  new  standard  of  humane  sympathy  and 
moral  obligation  had  arisen  in  other  nations.  Her 
cruelty  towards  the  insurgent  Cubans  became  so  in- 
tolerable that  the  great  neighboring  republic  of  the 
United  States  bade  her,  in  tones  of  no  uncertain 
meaning,  to  bring  it  to  an  end.  In  response  Spain 
adopted  her  favorite  method  of  procrastination,  and 
the  frightful  reign  of  starvation  in  Cuba  was  main- 
tained. This  was  more  than  the  American  people 
could  endure,  and  war  was  declared.  With  the  gen- 
eral course  of  that  war  our  readers  are  familiar,  but 
it  embraced  two  events  of  signal  significance — the 
naval  contests  of  the  war — which  are  worth  telling 
again  as  the  most  striking  occurrences  in  the  recent 
history  of  Spain. 

At  early  dawn  of  the  1st  of  May,  1898,  a  squadron 
of  United  States  cruisers  appeared  before  the  city 
of  Manila,  in  the  island  of  Luzon,  the  largest  island 
of  the  Philippine  archipelago,  then  a  colony  of  Spain. 
This  squadron,  consisting  of  the  cruisers  Olympia, 
Baltimore,  Raleigh,  and  Boston,  the  gunboats  Petrel 
and  Concord,  and  the  despatch-boat  McCulloch,  had 
entered  the  bay  of  Manila  during  the  night,  passing 


324  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

unhurt  the  batteries  at  its  mouth,  and  at  daybreak 
swept  in  proud  array  past  the  city  front,  seeking  the 
Spanish  fleet,  which  lay  in  the  little  bay  of  Cavite, 
opening  into  the  larger  bay. 

The  Spanish  ships  consisted  of  five  cruisers  and 
three  gunboats,  inferior  in  weight  and  armament  to 
their  enemy,  but  flanked  by  shore  batteries  on  each 
end  of  the  line,  and  with  an  exact  knowledge  of  the 
harbor,  while  the  Americans  were  ignorant  of  dis- 
tances and  soundings.  These  advantages  on  the  side 
of  the  Spanish  made  the  two  fleets  practically  equal 
in  strength.  The  battle  about  to  be  fought  was  one 
of  leading  importance  in  naval  affairs.  It  was  the 
second  time  in  history  in  which  two  fleets  built  under 
the  new  ideas  in  naval  architecture  and  armament 
had  met  in  battle.  The  result  was  looked  for  with 
intense  interest  by  the  world. 

Commodore  Dewey,  the  commander  of  the  Ameri- 
can squadron,  remained  fully  exposed  on  the  bridge 
of  his  flag-ship,  the  Olympia,  as  she  stood  daringly 
in,  followed  in  line  by  the  Baltimore,  Ealeigh,  Petrel, 
Concord,  and  Boston.  As  they  came  up,  the  shore 
batteries  opened  fire,  followed  by  the  Spanish  ships, 
while  two  submarine  mines,  exploded  before  the 
Olympia,  tossed  a  shower  of  water  uselessly  into  the 
air. 

Heedless  of  all  this,  the  ships  continued  their 
course,  their  guns  remaining  silent,  while  the  Span- 
ish fire  grew  continuous.  Plunging  shells  tore  up 
the  waters  of  the  bay  to  right  and  left,  but  not  a 
ship  was  struck,  and  not  a  shot  came  in  return  from 
the  frowning  muzzles  of  the  American  guns.     The 


MANILA  AND   SANTIAGO.  325 

hour  of  5.30  had  passed  and  the  sun  was  pouring  its 
beams  brightly  over  the  waters  of  the  bay,  when 
from  the  forward  turret  of  the  Olympia  boomed 
a  great  gun,  and  an  8-inch  shell  rushed  screaming 
in  towards  the  Spanish  fleet.  Within  ten  minutes 
more  all  the  ships  were  in  action,  and  a  steady  stream 
of  shells  were  pouring  upon  the  Spanish  ships. 

The  difference  in  effect  was  striking.  The  Ameri- 
can gunners  were  trained  to  accurate  aiming;  the 
Spanish  idea  was  simply  to  load  and  fire.  In  con- 
sequence few  shells  from  the  Spanish  guns  reached 
their  mark,  while  few  of  those  from  American  guns 
went  astray.  Soon  the  fair  ships  of  Spain  were 
frightfully  torn  and  rent  and  many  of  their  men 
stretched  in  death,  while  hardly  a  sign  of  damage 
was  visible  on  an  American  hull. 

Sweeping  down  parallel  to  the  Spanish  line,  and 
pouring  in  its  fire  as  it  went  from  a  distance  of  forty- 
five  hundred  yards,  the  American  squadron  swept 
round  in  a  long  ellipse  and  sailed  back,  now  bringing 
its  starboard  batteries  into  play.  Six  times  it  passed 
over  this  course,  the  last  two  at  the  distance  of  two 
thousand  yards.  From  the  great  cannon,  and  from 
the  batteries  of  smaller  rapid-fire  guns,  a  steady 
stream  of  projectiles  was  hurled  inward,  frightfully 
rending  the  Spanish  ships,  until  at  the  end  of  the 
evolutions  three  of  them  were  burning  fiercely,  and 
the  others  were  little  more  than  wrecks. 

Admiral  Montojo's  flag-ship,  the  Eeina  Cristina, 
made  a  sudden  dash  from  the  line  in  the  middle  of 
the  combat,  with  the  evident  hope  of  ramming  and 
sinking  the  Olympia.     The  attempt  was  a  desper- 


326  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

ate  one,  the  fire  of  the  entire  fleet  being  concen- 
trated on  the  single  antagonist,  until  the  storm  of 
projectiles  grew  so  terrific  that  utter  annihilation 
seemed  at  hand.  The  Spanish  admiral  now  swung 
his  ship  around  and  started  hastily  back.  Just  as 
she  had  fairly  started  in  the  reverse  course  an  8- 
inch  shell  from  the  Olympia  struck  her  fairly  in  the 
stern  and  drove  inward  through  every  obstruction, 
wrecking  the  aft-boiler  and  blowing  up  the  deck 
in  its  explosion.  It  was  a  fatal  shot.  Clouds  of 
white  smoke  were  soon  followed  by  the  red  glare 
of  flames.  For  half  an  hour  longer  the  crew  con- 
tinued to  work  their  guns.  At  the  end  of  that  time 
the  fire  was  master  of  the  ship. 

Two  torpedo-boats  came  out  with  the  same  pur- 
pose, and  met  with  the  same  reception.  Such  a  rain 
of  shell  poured  on  them  that  they  hastily  turned  and 
ran  back.  They  had  not  gone  far  before  one  of  them, 
torn  by  a  shell,  plunged  headlong  to  the  bottom  of 
the  bay.  The  other  was  beached,  her  crew  flying  in 
terror  to  the  shore. 

While  death  and  destruction  were  thus  playing 
havoc  with  the  Spanish  ships,  the  Spanish  fire  was 
mainly  wasted  upon  the  sea.  Shots  struck  the 
Olympia,  Baltimore,  and  Boston,  but  did  little  dam- 
age. One  passed  just  under  Commodore  Dewey  on 
the  bridge  and  tore  a  hole  in  the  deck.  One  ripped 
up  the  main  deck  of  the  Baltimore,  disabled  a  6-inch 
gun,  and  exploded  a  box  of  ammunition,  by  which 
eight  men  were  slightly  wounded.  These  were  the 
only  men  hurt  on  the  American  side  during  the 
whole  battle. 


MANILA  AND   SANTIAGO.  327 

At  7.35  Commodore  Dewey  withdrew  his  ships  that 
the  men  might  breakfast.  The  Spanish  ships  were 
in  a  hopeless  state.  Shortly  after  eleven  the  Ameri- 
cans returned  and  ranged  up  again  before  the  ships 
of  Spain,  nearly  all  of  which  were  in  flames.  For 
an  hour  and  a  quarter  longer  the  blazing  ships  were 
pounded  with  shot  and  shell,  the  Spaniards  feebly 
replying.  At  the  end  of  that  time  the  work  was  at 
an  end,  the  batteries  being  silenced  and  the  ships 
sunk,  their  upper  works  still  blazing.  Of  their 
crews,  nearly  a  thousand  had  perished  in  the  fight. 

Thus  ended  one  of  the  most  remarkable  naval 
battles  in  history.  For  more  than  three  hours  the 
American  ships  had  been  targets  for  a  hot  fire  from 
the  Spanish  fleet  and  forts,  and  during  all  that  time 
not  a  man  had  been  killed  and  not  a  ship  seriously 
injured.  Meanwhile,  the  Spanish  fleet  had  ceased  to 
exist.  Its  burnt  remains  lay  on  the  bottom  of  the 
bay.  The  forts  had  been  battered  into  shapeless 
heaps  of  earth,  their  garrisons  killed  or  put  to 
flight.  It  was  an  awful  example  of  the  difference 
between  accurate  gunnery  and  firing  at  random. 

Two  months  later  a  second  example  of  the  same 
character  was  made.  Spain's  finest  squadron,  con- 
sisting of  the  four  first-class  armored  cruisers  Maria 
Teresa,  Vizcaya,  Almirante  Oquendo,  and  Cristobal 
Colon,  with  two  torpedo-boat  destroyers,  lay  in  the 
harbor  of  Santiago  de  Cuba,  blockaded  by  a  power- 
ful American  fleet  of  battle-ships  and  cruisers  under 
Admiral  Sampson.  They  were  held  in  a  close  trap. 
The  town  was  being  besieged  by  land.  Sampson's 
fleet  far  outnumbered  them  at  sea.     They  must 


328  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

either  surrender  with  the  town  or  take  the  forlorn 
hope  of  escape  by  flight. 

The  latter  was  decided  upon.  On  the  morning 
of  July  3  the  lookout  on  the  Brooklyn,  Commodore 
Schley's  flag-ship,  reported  that  a  ship  was  coming 
out  of  the  harbor.  The  cloud  of  moving  smoke  had 
been  seen  at  the  same  instant  from  the  battle-ship 
Iowa,  and  in  an  instant  the  Sunday  morning  calm 
on  these  vessels  was  replaced  by  intense  excitement. 

Mast-head  signals  told  the  other  ships  of  what 
was  in  view,  the  men  rushed  in  mad  haste  to 
quarters,  the  guns  were  made  ready  for  service,  am- 
munition was  hoisted,  coal  hurled  into  the  furnaces, 
and  every  man  on  the  alert.  It  was  like  a  man  sud- 
denly awoke  from  sleep  with  an  alarm  cry :  at  one 
moment  silent  and  inert,  in  the  next  moment  thrill- 
ing with  intense  life  and  activity. 

This  was  not  a  battle ;  it  was  a  flight  and  pursuit. 
The  Spaniards  as  soon  as  the  harbor  was  cleared 
opened  a  hot  fire  on  the  Brooklyn,  their  nearest  an- 
tagonist, which  they  wished  to  disable  through  fear 
of  her  superior  speed.  But  their  gunnery  here  was 
like  that  at  Manila,  their  shells  being  wasted  through 
unskilful  handling.  On  the  other  hand  the  fire  from 
the  American  ships  was  frightful,  precise,  and  de- 
structive, the  fugitive  ships  being  rapidly  torn  by 
such  a  rain  of  shells  as  had  rarely  been  seen  before. 

Turning  down  the  coast,  the  fugitive  ships  drove 
onward  at  their  utmost  speed.  After  them  came  the 
cruiser  Brooklyn  and  the  battle-ships  Texas,  Iowa, 
Oregon,  and  Indiana,  hurling  shells  from  their  great 
guns  in  their  wake.    The  New  York,  Admiral  Samp- 


MANILA  AND   SANTIAGO* 

son's  flag-ship,  was  distant  several  miles  up  the  coast, 
too  far  away  to  take  part  in  the  fight. 

Such  a  hail  of  shot,  sent  with  such  accurate  aim, 
could  not  long  be  endured.  The  Maria  Teresa,  Ad- 
miral Cervera's  flag-ship,  was  quickly  in  flames,  while 
shells  were  piercing  her  sides  and  bursting  within. 
The  main  steam-pipe  was  severed,  the  pump  was 
put  out  of  service,  the  captain  was  killed.  Lower- 
ing her  flag,  the  vessel  headed  for  the  shore,  where 
she  was  quickly  beached. 

The  Almirante  Oquendo,  equally  punished,  fol- 
lowed the  same  example,  a  mass  of  flames  shrouding 
her  as  she  rushed  for  the  beach.  The  Yizcaya  was 
the  next  to  succumb,  after  a  futile  effort  to  ram  the 
Brooklyn.  One  shell  from  the  cruiser  went  the  en- 
tire length  of  her  gun-deck,  kilhng  or  wounding  all 
the  men  on  it.  The  Oregon  was  pouring  shells  into 
her  hull,  and  she  in  turn,  burning  fiercely,  was  run 
ashore.     She  had  made  a  flight  of  twenty  miles. 

Only  one  of  the  Spanish  cruisers  remained, — the 
Cristobal  Colon.  She  had  passed  all  her  consorts, 
and  when  the  Vizcaya  went  ashore  was  six  miles 
ahead  of  the  Brooklyn  and  more  than  seven  miles 
from  the  Oregon.  It  looked  as  if  she  might  escape. 
But  she  would  have  to  round  Cape  Cruz  by  a  long 
detour,  and  the  Brooklyn  was  headed  straight  for 
the  cape,  while  the  Oregon  kept  on  the  Colon's  trail. 

An  hour,  a  second  hour,  passed ;  the  pursuers  were 
gaining  mile  by  mile ;  the  spurt  of  speed  of  the  Colon 
was  at  an  end.  One  of  the  great  13-inch  shells  of 
the  Oregon,  fired  from  four  miles  away,  struck  the 
water  near  the  Colon.     A  second  fell  beyond  her. 


330  HISTORICAL   TALES. 

An  8-inch  shell  from  the  Brooklyn  pierced  her  above 
her  armor-belt.  At  one  o'clock  both  ships  were 
pounding  away  at  her,  an  ineffective  fire  being  re- 
turned. At  1.20  she  hauled  down  her  flag,  and,  like 
her  consorts,  ran  ashore.  She  had  made  a  run  of 
forty-eight  miles. 

About  six  hundred  men  were  killed  on  the  Spanish 
ships;  the  American  loss  was  one  man  killed  and 
one  wounded.  The  ships  of  Spain  were  blazing 
wrecks ;  those  of  the  United  States  were  none  the 
worse  for  the  fight.  It  was  like  the  victory  at  Ma- 
nila repeated.  It  resembled  the  latter  in  another 
particular,  two  torpedo-boats  taking  part  in  the  af- 
fair. These  were  attacked  by  the  Gloucester,  a 
yacht  converted  into  a  gunboat,  and  dealt  with  so 
shrewdly  that  both  of  them  were  sunk. 

The  battle  ended,  efforts  to  save  on  the  part  of  the 
American  ships  succeeded  the  effort  to  destroy,  the 
Yankee  tars  showing  as  much  courage  and  daring 
in  their  attempts  to  rescue  the  wounded  from  the 
decks  of  the  burning  ships  as  they  had  done  in  the 
fight.  The  ships  were  blazing  fore  and  aft,  their 
guns  were  exploding  from  the  heat,  at  any  moment 
the  fire  might  reach  the  main  magazines.  A  heavy 
surf  made  the  work  of  rescue  doubly  dangerous ;  yet 
no  risk  could  deter  the  American  sailors  while  the 
chance  to  save  one  of  the  wounded  remained,  and 
they  made  as  proud  a  record  on  the  decks  of  the 
burning  ships  as  they  had  done  behind  the  guns. 

These  two  signal  victories  were  the  great  events 
of  the  war.  Conjoined  with  one  victory  on  land, 
they  put  an  end  to  the  conflict.     Without  a  fleet, 


MANILA  AND   SANTIAGO.  331 

and  with  no  means  of  aiding  her  Cuban  troops,  Spain 
was  helpless,  and  the  naval  victories  at  Manila  and 
Santiago,  in  which  one  man  was  killed,  virtually  set- 
tled the  question  of  Cuban  independence,  and  taught 
the  nations  of  Europe  that  a  new  and  great  naval 
power  had  arisen,  with  which  they  would  have  to 
deal  when  they  next  sought  to  settle  the  destinies 
of  the  world.  The  United  States  had  risen  into 
world-wide  prominence  upon  the  ruin  of  the  colonial 
empire  of  Spain. 


THE   END. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 
LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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